The Underworld Age
by TinyFlyingFerret
Summary: A Young Justice (season one) zombie apocalypse. Monsters rising from the dead overtake the world, starting in Gotham City and moving out, and the Team is trapped on Earth with no help and no idea of how to save the world- or themselves.
1. Chapter 1

**There just aren't enough Young Justice apocalypse stories out there and this is my attempt to provide at least one story that puts together YJ and a post-apocalyptic AU. Enjoy and review! (In that order :D)**

oOo

Dick Grayson had been on the bus from school when it happened. Bruce had a League meeting and Alfred was volunteering at Doctor Leslie's clinic leaving no one to pick him up from school, and leaving Dick to a long and boring ride with annoying classmates yelling across the bus and a driver doing nothing about it.

A large force banging into the side of the bus suddenly shook all the students out of their seats and onto the floor. The driver was unconscious at one hit, and three or four students were out as well after the second. The bus screeched out of control and crashed into the rail. Caught on the highway, it was a wonder that cars hadn't smashed into it, but that was only because the other vehicles were already being overtaken as it did. The remaining students barely had seconds to look anxiously through the windows where dark masses of rotting zombies were pouring out of the woods on either side.

Dick watched as the front door and the back emergency exit were ripped off their hinges and, with deep regret and dread, agilely hopped onto the seat and began to open the emergency roof hatch. He pulled himself through with just enough space to narrowly miss the rotting hand reaching for his feet.

He risked a look back, but what he saw left a permanent stain in his memory. There was only one person on the bus who hadn't been overtaken and bitten, a small girl who stood on her tiptoes on the seat, reaching her small hand toward him with tears streaming down her face. Richard leaned back in and reached out to her, just inches away when a shrill scream escaped her lips and down she fell to the ground, with a bleeding bite in her leg and a frozen expression of shock on her face.

Dick cried out in horror but knew he could do nothing for her. He swallowed his fear and flipped off the top of the bus, fighting against the tide of rushing monsters. The fastest he'd ever run, he dashed into the woods and scaled the nearest tree.

oOo

It was dinnertime in Central City for the West family, when there was a scratching sound at the front door. Rudy and Mary exchanged curious glances and Wally sped to the door, looking out of the peephole. He was speechless at what he saw. He turned around, completely pale, with his back to the door when his parents walked in. "What is it sweetie?" his mother asked him, concerned. "Zombies..." he whispered under his breath. "Wally, speak up," Rudy told him. Wally shut his eyes.

_There's no way they're gonna believe me!_ He panicked. "Zombies, Dad! There's, like, five of them just outside behind the door. You can't open it, 'kay? I'll just run to the nearest-"

And just as he predicted, Mary and Rudy rolled their eyes at each other and pushed their son away from the door. "NO!" he yelled. "You can't open it! You can't-" As the door flew open, the zombies flew in and immediately pounced on the West parents.

Wally watched, horrified, along with the three zombies currently standing on his doorstep as the bite marks on his parents emitted a black blood. From the area of the infection, the skin turned black and rotting until two zombies lay before him. His parents stood up, a hungry, mindless fire in their eyes, and moved to infect their son.

Wally sped into his room and threw open the window, praying with every step that this was all a dream. Praying- because he knew it wasn't. _Uncle Barry's house, gotta get to Uncle Barry's house...he'll know what to do... _He took all the backroads, repeating the mantra in his head until an occurring thought brought him to a sudden stop. His eyes widened with realization._ There's a League meeting-they're all on the Watchtower! _

Seeing no point in continuing to his uncle's house, assuming Aunt Iris was at the news station working or reporting on this disaster or- dare he think it?- even a zombie herself, he changed his course for Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. From the mountain he would be able to zeta to the Watchtower and there he would be safe- hopefully.

oOo

Artemis was lucky to have just arrived home from school when the attack came, and she had seen it coming, more or less. The bus had just dropped her off at the end of her street and she was walking up the block to her apartment, eager to recount to her mother the look on that bully's face when she shoved him into a trashcan and gave him a taste of his own medicine.

A strange pounding noise discreetly entered her ears and she looked up to see a dark mob moving down the street. Their feet pounding on the ground as they ran, crazed, and their loud moans and haunting screeches echoing off apartments and storefronts, they moved at a terrifying speed in her direction. The second their rotting stench hit her nose she knew exactly what they were and what they were there for.

Several other civilians on the street realized this as well and ran, screaming and panicking, into the nearest stores and buildings. Artemis stood, glued to the sidewalk, and watched, frozen in horror, while the living dead tore into buildings and homes and came out with new additions to their pack. Chaos was all around her and in a single second, when the desperation kicked in, she suddenly raced up the steps and slammed the door behind her. Her mother wheeled in to see Artemis frantically bolting the door and placing a table in front of it, brushing off a vase and picture frame which shattered loudly on the floor, and then lunging for the coat rack, throwing the coats and jackets to the ground and setting it securely in front of the door as well.

"Artemis!" Paula shrieked. "What is the meaning of this?!" Whipping around to see her mother, Artemis breathed a sigh of relief and brushed past her and into the living room. Her mother followed, part angry and part concerned while her daughter grabbed the television remote and switched to the nearest news station where The Zombie Apocalypse: It's Really Here was blasting all over the news and station after station showed footage of masses hunting through the streets.

Paula didn't have a chance to say anything before Artemis was relaying instructions. "Mom, you need to get out of here, you need to get to the Watchtower, you'll be safe there. Pack everything you'll need for now, and we can go out the back, get to the zeta tube, get to the Watchtower," her thoughts began to trail off and she spoke them aloud. "I wonder, is anywhere else having a zombie attack? This could be unique to Gotham..." "Artemis! The more time we waste, the less of a chance at escaping we have!" her mother broke her thought and brought her back to reality. Minutes later, a zombie pack broke into the apartment, only an empty house waiting for them.

oOo

The remaining three Team members didn't even see the zombies initially. Megan had the excuse of making cookies in the kitchen for an after-school snack to watch Conner in the living area adoringly, who, himself, was staring at static as usual. Kaldur had been training in the gym and was taking a break to re-hydrate. Megan decided to ask Conner if he wanted her to turn on the TV.

Turning around to look at the Martian, Conner thought for a moment before answering, "If you know how." Megan hadn't thought about that particular issue and, not wanting to disappoint, looked to Kaldur for help. With two sets of eyes on him, the leader sighed and went over to the large television, scanning the room for the TV remote. "Do you know how?" Conner asked, skeptical. "Seeing as none of us are humans, I have been on the surface the longest of the three of us, so I probably have the best chance of turning on this-" Aqualad searched for the word. "-television."

Five minutes later, the television finally switched to the proper setting and a frantic news lady spoke excitedly to her audience about what the headlines said was The Zombie Apocalypse: It's Really Here. M'gann's cookie tray clattered to the floor and Kaldur dropped the remote. Conner stood up so quickly the coffee table fell over and then he ran to the mission room, Aqualad and Miss M hot on his heels.

"Come in, Red Tornado!" Aqualad said into the comm system. After a minute, the android's voice came over the sound system. "Is there a problem, Aqualad?" "You are at the League meeting, correct?" Aqualad wasted no time in asking questions. "Yes." "Please put me on speaker," the Atlantean requested, despite the confused looks his two comrades were giving him. "You are on speaker, Aqualad," Tornado announced a moment later. "Speak."

"Tune in to the news channel. You need to see what's happening. It's very urgent." "Which station?" Aquaman asked his apprentice, putting the embarrassment of having his apprentice interrupt a meeting into the back of his mind.

"Any station. You won't believe this..."

oOo

It probably could have been predicted that Gotham City would be the cause of the end of the world. Without the new addition of infected corpses wandering the world and picking off Earth's population one by one, everyone already hated the city. As long as anyone could remember it was filled with vile criminals and sickening miscreants. It was still filled with these monsters, but now it was also filled with brainless, rotting, virus-carrying monsters that had roamed all over the country and had somehow gotten onto ships and crossed oceans, taking the rest of the planet completely by surprise.

So when the masses had a need to blame, they blamed Gotham. The more enlightened people didn't blame Gotham itself, however. They blamed Scarecrow. That criminal had always been enthusiastic about brewing chemicals and potions to mess with the mind, but even he hadn't wanted his newest concoction to raise the dead. And with the abundance of dead people in Gotham cemeteries, raising enough dead to infect almost the entire city had not been a problem. The world could do nothing but stand by helplessly as one by one people joined the massive hunting party involuntarily. It didn't take long for the Justice League to figure that one out. The zeta tube announced the now- authorized arrival of Paula Crock, who turned, relieved, to wait for Artemis to materialize. Except that she didn't. Everyone turned to each other with terror on their faces at the announcement of the computerized voice, "Error. Zeta tubes are now offline."

Now the Team was trapped.

**More will be on it's way. Please tell me your thoughts. And to clear up any confusion, Robin and Artemis weren't riding the same bus, as they live in very different parts of town, so her bus just dropped her off before his dropped him off. Until next time :)**

**-BW10**


	2. Chapter 2

**I found my plot outline for this story and just could not get it out of my head! So, I give you the second installment. I'll be remembering how to breathe over here...**

* * *

Roy often acted like he was too proud to join the Team or even ask for their help. He would, on the surface, want nothing to do with them, but all of that faded in the wake of the zombie apocalypse.

The television suddenly emitting loud noises of panic and the news lady's frantic reporting awoke him on the couch from a much-needed power nap. This he resented, for he had needed a rest after an all-nighter gathering Shadow intel. He knew exactly what was happening when he saw it. He also knew that the League was at a Watchtower meeting and that meant the clubhouse kids would be on their own. Whether he wanted to or not, he was going to have to work with them on this..._problem_. Peeking out his apartment window, he saw the monsters terrorizing the streets and then heard them enter the apartment building.

Thinking quickly and gathering information from every zombie survival manual he'd ever read, he concluded that blowing the staircase was the best option to give him time to get to the nearest zeta tube and transport to the mountain. And so, a few well-placed low blasting explosives later, Roy peered down at the gap that had been the staircase and let out a sigh of relief at seeing the creatures below making no moves to scale the walls. His relief was short-lived, however, when he sighted the zombies climbing on top of each other and creating a human ladder- if you could call it human.

Slamming his door, he hurried around, changing into his Red Arrow outfit and gathering a few supplies for the day ahead. _Okay, then, _Roy thought, climbing onto the roof of the apartment building. _These are officially not regular zombies. _And so he shot himself a zip-line and made his way from rooftop to rooftop. And by the time he got to the zeta tube only to hear the announcement "Error: Zeta tubes are now offline", he was ready to punch someone's face in. _The airport, then_, he decided. He was at the end of his patience when he saw the few hundred rioters gathered outside of the airport after landing on a nearby building and concluded that there was no way he was getting on a flight. Unless...

Red Arrow shot a zip-line arrow and glided above the unknowing crowd to a building overhanging one of the many runways. The mob mentality must have caused the people to forget that this was a zombie apocalypse- there was no where safe to fly to. Roy selected a random plane and checked that there was enough fuel for the five-hour trip to Rhode Island. There was no way the government would bother arresting him for stealing a plane- it was the friggin' apocalypse! Pulling in all the things he remembered about how to fly a plane (and hoping they wouldn't fail him like the zombie survival manual), he readied himself for the journey ahead.

Lucky for him, all the tower workers had been infected, therefore no one was there to stop him from taking off. No one even noticed the leaving plane in all the craziness, and if they did, no one cared.

_Calm down, Harper. You got this._

* * *

"We're already working on fixing the zeta tubes from our end, as well as finding out what caused this...outbreak," Superman reassured the three Team members and the silent, wheelchair-bound woman over the comm system. He hesitated a little before speaking again. "Until then, it looks like you kids are on your own. With Paula, of course." A moment of silence and then Flash's voice spoke up saying, "In about half an hour, the zeta tubes will be able to transport one person, and one only. I suggest you make your decision before then."

Kaldur, Conner, and M'gann exchanged glances before Martian Manhunter's voice came over the speakers. "But until then, there are still some things you can do. You should locate Robin, Artemis, and Kid Flash first. Then you should go to Washington D.C, to the Hall of Justice. Calm the people by showing that there are still heroes willing to help them. Tell them to establish a local refuge for survivors in their cities. It should catch the news stations' attention. Lastly, return here and help Happy Harbor find a refuge. There's not much else you can do otherwise." Aquaman hastily added in, "Aqualad, check to see how Atlantis is functioning. It may be completely free of these living dead creatures-providing they cannot swim. You will have to swim yourself, as the zeta tubes are offline."

Kaldur voiced his agreement and put out a call on his comm-link for the remaining members of the Team. The only sound he heard was static. As he announced this, the call to the Watchtower suddenly went dead. "NO!" Miss Martian cried out. Conner stomped his foot. "Why does all the technology stop working? First the zeta tubes, then the comm, now this..." His frustration turned to a pensive expression as he mumbled under his breath, "The power isn't even out, the television's still working..."

Aqualad sighed and made a group decision. "We truly are on our own, now. We must fly to the Hall of Justice. I will depart for Atlantis when we are done. Suit up."

Paula watched the children leave and settled in on the couch, turning on the news and watching, to her horror, the truth of the apocalypse.

* * *

"Error: Zeta tubes are now offline."

Artemis heard these words and cried out in unbelief. "What?! This doesn't make any sense!" She paced around a little to calm her temper before glancing back at the phone booth and then putting her hand to her ear and trying to call Aqualad on her comm link. When she realized that in the craziness she had left her comm at home, she silently fumed and pulled out her phone, speed dialing her mom. _I hope this works..._

"Artemis! What happened?" Paula said from the other end.

"Mom! Did you get to the Watchtower? Are you safe?"

"Yes, sweetie I'm fine. But I didn't get to the Watchtower. Honey, I'm in the mountain with your Team. There was a malfunction, I believe," Paula answered calmly. "Artemis, the rest of your Team was here talking to some Leaguers on the Watchtower. Apparently they were in a meeting up there when all this happened. Sadly something went wrong and they just lost connection with them. Something about the comms not working. The League gave them instructions before they blacked out, though."

"Wait, all of them? You're with the Team?!"

A moment of hesitation and then, "No, there's no sign of Kid Flash yet, or Robin. I was here with Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Superboy. They should be flying to D.C. now. Survivors need to gather in a secure place, and they need lots of encouragement. Artemis, you should head here, to the mountain. You can help out. I'll be fine here until you come. Don't you worry."

"Mom, I..." Artemis choked on her words, not sure what she could say in this vital moment. "I love you, Mom." Her mother's soothing reply of, "I love you, too, Artemis," calmed her down through the end of the phone call. When the click of her mother ending the call echoed through her head, she finally collapsed, sinking to the ground in tears and let herself weep for the horrid things that had happened in the past hour.

Just to see if she could, she dialed Wally's number. Suddenly, her phone blacked out and died. Technology in general was slowly ceasing to function. She hoped the televisions still worked. Knowing she would soon be out of time, she checked that her quiver was fully stocked and fired a zip-line arrow. She gazed down at each street as she flew over them, deciding upon her vehicle of choice. She needed something fast and maneuverable, but able to make the four hour drive to Happy Harbor.

Spotting a motorcycle in relatively good condition, tucked away behind a garage and away from the chaos of attacking zombies, she mounted it and, putting any thoughts of arrest for vehicle theft in the back of her mind, sped off for the highway.

* * *

Wally was ecstatic to see the outline of Mt. Justice appear in his field of vision. He was low on fuel and growing tired from the run. Every time he blinked he saw his parents faces, reaching out to poison him with the virus. _These aren't your typical zeds, _he mused, coming to a halt and letting the scanner identify him. _They seem...smarter. They had no interest in eating my flesh, all they did was bite someone and they became a zombie too. Maybe there's some kind of purpose behind this sudden attack. _

Wally's first stop was the kitchen. He emptied the cupboards and the refrigerator and noticed several things; there was a broken cookie tray on the floor, the coffee table was overturned, and the news was on with no one watching it. Hold on, there was someone! A Vietnamese woman in a wheelchair-who was staring right at him. He jumped a few feet in the air when he saw the woman calmly staring at him and yelled, suddenly on the defense, "Who are you and how did you get in here?!"

"No need to panic," the woman chuckled. "I'm Artemis' mother. She sent me here to be safe, but the zeta tubes aren't working anymore. I was intended to be sent to the Watchtower." Wally, now at ease, moved to the couch and sat down. "I wish _my_ parents had gotten somewhere safe. They didn't even see it coming..." As he fought the impending flood of tears, Paula knowingly reached out a hand and rubbed him a little on the back. "Look," she whispered gently. Wally raised his head to see the news that she was indicating on the television. On the news, the bioship was landing in Washington D.C. and Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Superboy were walking out. He was relieved to see they were alright but his concern for Robin and Artemis grew at noticing their absence. Aqualad very easily caught the attention of just about everyone standing outside the Hall of Justice as he began, eloquently, "Citizens of Earth! We have not abandoned you!"

* * *

Robin had never been happier for Bat Rule #1. Thankfully, he had brought his utility belt with him, hidden away in his pocket, and had used the grappling hook to easily make his way home. Never leave home without it!

Home...

Wayne Manor was a desolate place, empty and dark. The zombies obviously had ransacked it but, finding no one, had moved on. To Dick's surprise, only a few things had been broken, and the Batcave had not been discovered. Robin crept inside and sat before the Bat Computer. Firstly, he checked the zeta tube status. Offline. Knowing he would be able to do nothing for that situation he moved on. He tried contacting Batman, that failed, he tried again to contact the Watchtower. Nothing was working. As a last resort, he whipped out his cell phone and speed dialed Alfred. The minute the call began, the phone went dead.

Dick groaned and placed his head in his hands. What could he do? The comm system was of the highest priority. Realizing it was pointless to attempt to revive the Watchtower signal as well as Batman's individual comm (it would take far too long, with them being in space and all), he decided to fix the comm links for the rest of the Team. He pulled his own device out of his ear and set to work. Some time later, he was ready to put out a group call. Wally immediately picked up, and Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian all followed at around the same time. Neither Roy nor Artemis answered.

"Robin? Rob! Is that you?! Is this thing working again? I thought it was fried!" Wally was exuberant.

"Yeah, KF. It's me. I got them all back online."

The whoop of joy from the other end brought happy tears to Robin's eyes. "I really missed you, bud," Wally brought his voice down a few levels. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"You, too, Wally," Robin smiled halfheartedly, even though he was alone. Aqualad spoke next, "I believe there are several things we must discuss. We should start with the- uh -creatures we have encountered." "Yeah," Robin sighed. "We'd better compare notes." One by one, they recounted their stories, Wally holding back a wave of tears as he mentioned his parents' infecting in passing, Kaldur giving special attention to the last instructions of the Justice League, and Robin sharing several of his theories on these zombie creatures.

"From what I saw, these don't appear to be your typical zombies," he explained. Wally voiced his agreement on the other end before bidding Robin to continue. "I'm sure the Watchtower is doing everything it can, but until we can-"

"Hold up!" Wally interrupted. In the background the zeta tube could be heard. "Zeta tubes are now online. One person only. This tube will go back offline in sixty seconds. Fifty-nine, fifty-eight..."

Kaldur made the decision immediately and with one word. "Paula." Muffled speech could be heard from the other end before the zeta tube announced Paula's departure for the Watchtower. "She'll be safe in space," Kaldur explained. "Artemis would want it." A few quiet agreements were heard before Kaldur said, "Miss Martian and Superboy will be going back to the Cave now that we have told the public to gather in safe areas. I myself will dive to Atlantis and see what it's fortune was."

"Alright, then," Robin said. "Only one thing, I can only keep our comms from malfunctioning here, in the Batcave. And I'll be going to the Cave soon, so this will be our last conversation until we see each other again." He hadn't meant to make it sound so depressing, but it was the truth. A few goodbyes and good lucks later, everyone signed off. Robin took one last look around the Batcave before putting it on lockdown. _Just in case any zeds happen to wander in... _Then, eyeing the Batmobile, he grinned and jumped right into the driver's seat. _Finally I get to drive this thing!_

He just wished he wasn't driving it in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

**There's chapter two. And now I'm really pumped up for this so expect the third in a few days (unless I accidentally delete it like I deleted this one) Please review!**

**TTFN.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I will be completely useless until I get this story out of my system so, here you go. Chapter 3. Thanks to my anonymous reviewers for the input as well as FrankandJoe3 for those very nice long, juicy reviews I get. And you can all thank her, too, because she is the reason I'm posting this. Onwards, then! (Oh yeah and I own nothing but the plot. Don't own Linkin Park and New Divide either. Except for several of their amazing songs on my laptop! It's really hard deciding which one to quote when it's time to. You should listen to them if you don't already...)**

* * *

"The Zombie Apocalypse: It's Really Here. They couldn't come up with something better? C'mon Iris, talk some sense into whoever names these disasters!"

Barry sat,watching the news and munching on some barbecue chips. The best kind in his opinion. That tended to be his style of dealing with these kinds of catastrophic events. He acted laid-back, he didn't panic, he reassured the panicking people, and he logically thought of a solution to the malfunctioning of the zeta tubes while nonchalantly shoving chips into his face and watching TV. There were several other Leaguers lounging around; Wonder Woman, both Green Lanterns, Captain Marvel, Atom, Doctor Fate, the Hawks, and even Plastic Man, those who knew they could do nothing to help their children trapped on Earth mostly, and there was Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Red Tornado, and Black Canary.

Meanwhile Batman paced a dent into the floor (figuratively of course, we all know Batman has no superpowers, unless paranoia counts) and racked his brain for every possible solution, and there was Superman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Red Tornado, and Black Canary who all stood (or paced in Batman's case) near the zeta tubes while Tornado and Manhunter worked on it. Paula had come in and, exhausted from the excitement, had opted to lie down in a spare room and skip dinner.

Canary suddenly checked the time. "It's 5:00, eastern time. I ought to get some dinner going." She walked off to the mess hall, Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman following her, and all three of them ignoring Barry calling "That sounds like an _awesome_ idea!" after them. Batman had finally had enough of this and turned to the speedster. "Is there a reason you're not over here with the rest of us, Flash?" he asked sternly. Barry knew what he was really saying underneath, _"Don't you care about our kids? Don't you care about Wally?" _But Barry wasn't intimidated by Batman. This was his way of dealing with the anxiety and no one could tell him otherwise. Besides, the other guys lounging around weren't expressing that they didn't care for the youngsters, simply that the only thing they truly could do was watch the news with rapt attention, and that they weren't willing to get in the mentors' way while they fussed over their children, nieces, nephews, or even just partners.

Barry turned calmly to Bruce's hard expression and said, not unkindly, "I get that you're worried about Robin, and I'm very worried about KF, too, but there's really nothing I can do for him until we get those zeta tubes up, or at least until we get their comms back online. The best thing for me to do now, is to wait for Iris to come on GBS. So far it's been nothing but Cat Grant. No offense to Cat, but I need to see if my wife is alright down there." Batman curtly nodded and went back to his mundane pacing.

"Hey Hal, can I see that popcorn?"

And so, three family sized chip bags, five bowls of popcorn bowls, and a sixteen soda cans later, Iris finally came over the television. To Barry's dismay, she was live in Central City, standing on a major street while zeds raged behind her. Seeing a few of them notice her and move towards the camera with the obvious intent to infect her, and her not paying attention to what happened behind her, Flash shook his head and whispered under his breath, "Iris, babe, get out of there..."

His request was not answered, and Iris was bitten.

* * *

The sun was setting in Gotham, and Robin had just figured out the general gist of driving the Batmobile. He switched on his headlights and eased the car onto the abandoned highway, ironically the same one where he had been during the outbreak. As he passed the abandoned bus, refusing to look directly at it, he averted his thoughts. He was still a little pissed about the fact he hadn't gotten to tell the Team about his major zombie theory; These zombies were smarter than they had expected. Someone must be behind this, and that meant someone was controlling them. If that was the case, it meant all they had to do was find out who it was and interrogate them. There could be a way to reverse this outbreak, before they were the only ones left.

Taking a deep breath, Dick looked for something to clear his head. He knew the Batmobile had a radio system. It was one of those quirky things Batman had that Robin never understood, but he loved the idea of it. After messing around with the controls for a few minutes, never taking his eyes off the road, he found the right button and tuned in to the nearest radio station. He was genuinely surprised anyone was still operating it, but he figured no one would want to leave the safety of a radio station and risk being infected. Besides, living life as normally as possible in an apocalypse was the best method for keeping up hope. He caught the second verse of New Divide and sang along to the words that described somewhat accurately what the world was feeling like to him now.

_There was nothing in sight, but memories left abandoned_  
_There was nowhere to hide, the ashes fell like snow_  
_And the ground caved in between where we were standing_  
_And your voice was all I heard, that I get what I deserve_  
_So give me reason..._

By the end of the song, Robin was fighting tears. Hearing what sounded like another vehicle on the highway, he quickly switched the radio off and checked his mirror. Thankful for the high-mast lighting poles on the roadside, he looked to see who was behind him. It was a motorcycle, and someone was riding it without a helmet. To him it looked like a desperate escape. Dick wondered if he should give this lucky survivor a ride with him. Anything to feel less alone. Squinting at the figure, he immediately recognized Artemis. Another one of his favorite features of the Batmobile came in handy when he honked the horn and got the archer's attention. Artemis evidently had not seen the black car in front of her blending in with the night and, startled, swerved a little, before realizing who it was and speeding up to see through the dark window on the driver's side. Robin rolled it down and look at her surprised and speechless form. He let out a happy cackle and said, "Hey, want a ride? I think I'll pull over."

When Artemis had successfully ditched her motorcycle, she joined him in the Batmobile and both of them breathed a long sigh of relief before Dick started the engine again and sped down the highway. "You ever driven this thing?" she asked, trying not to let the uncertainty show in her voice. He was silent for a second. "No." Artemis let out a long breath and leaned her head onto the headrest. Realizing it was a little too far down for her, considering that Robin himself was the usual occupant of the seat, she cranked it up a few notches so that it actually supported her head and re-adjusted. Another few minutes went by in silence. "So, did you lose your comm?" he asked. "Oh...yeah, kinda. I left it at my house when Mom and I were rushing out. Then the zeta tube stopped working, and I-"

"I know," he interrupted. "I established connection with everyone else, minus Roy, and they told me everything they knew. Your mom stayed at Mt. Justice for awhile, but the League got the zeta tube working long enough to let her through. She's in the Watchtower now," and then he said what he knew she wanted to hear. "She's safe." He zoned out for a good minute or two, wondering about those he cared about; Bruce, Alfred, Leslie, Barbara...any one of them could have been infected, with the exception of Bruce, who was no doubt tearing himself to bits up in the Watchtower over this whole thing. Robin allowed himself a small smile at that thought. Of course he was being paranoid- as usual.

"Thank you," Artemis said quietly, very relieved but somewhat guilty that she had not even thought about what had happened to Robin's family and friends (whoever they were) to make him zone off so suddenly. "Robin!" she called, bringing him back to reality and somewhat afraid for her life. He blinked and looked at her. "Yeah?" Artemis pointed out of the dashboard window. "Focus on driving, Robin! Driving!" "Oh yeah!" he called out, embarrassed. "Forgot I was at the wheel there for a second. Anyway, I ought to fill you in on everything we said at the comm call..."

* * *

It was almost six, eastern time, when the bioship landed in the hangar, and Wally was standing right there waiting for it. He was long past ready to see his teammates again. After a few hugs and hellos the three of them moved to the kitchen area where they discussed where to go from there. "It's almost six and I'm guessing the rest of the city hasn't eaten yet," Wally sighed. "It's already dark, though," M'gann cut in, confused. "If you're planning on leaving, you might run into some zombies! You could be infected!" Wally laughed and threw an arm around the silent and tall Superboy's shoulders. "Nah! Not if I got Supey with me!"

Conner raised his eyebrows but said nothing about being volunteered. Wally rambled on, "He's got super-tough skin, remember? No zed out there could pierce that skin. And if I got him protecting me, no one can bite me either." M'gann nodded, albeit nervously, and asked, "Do you want to take the bioship?" Wally shook his head, walking with the other two behind him towards the front entrance, and explained, "You might need it to pick up Kaldur. Besides, you know Supey's jumping ability!" He chuckled as he stopped and let the scanner scan him and Conner. Megan pulled the Kryptonian in for a quick kiss before releasing him to go risk his life with Wally and provide food and direct the citizens of Happy Harbor to a refuge, and then stood forlornly as the giant door slammed shut.

* * *

The radio had been switched back on, at Artemis' request, although she was still shocked that the Batmobile had one, but Robin didn't need to turn it off to hear the loud shouts that came from the road in front of him. He didn't need his headlights, either, to see the fiery torches carried by a mob of unhappy Gothamites. He slowed the car to a stop, sharing a nervous glance with his passenger, before opening the canopy and hopping out to face the angry roadblock.

The crowd automatically dropped their volume a few levels when they saw the approaching heroes. "What's going on here?" Robin asked sternly, giving his best glare. One man, holding a torch in one hand and a gun in the other stepped forwards and shouted, "Why don't _you_ tell_ us_?" His question was followed by a few yeahs and shouts. Then the flood of accusations began.

"Yeah! Why haven't you done anything, huh?"  
"You're probably the reason this is happening to us!"  
"I heard it was some supervillain."  
"You and the Bat are always tangling with those enemies of yours and now they're bringing us into it!"  
"You expect us to sit by and just let this happen?"  
"Yeah, you're just skipping town on us!"  
"Are you a hero or not?"  
"I don't know about you, but there are people I care about, and _you're_ not doing a thing to save them!"

This one made Robin angry. Didn't they realize he was a human being just looking for his family, too? No, of course not. It was just like Bruce always said, 'Batman and Robin aren't people. They're symbols. They're beings that watch over the city and are established like that in people's minds'.

Either way, this mob had no right to question him. He was doing everything he could- and a little extra!- to get this situation under control. Did they think he didn't care? He decided to ask. "Hey, come on, people. Why are you doing this? It's dangerous out here. You're leaving friends and relatives just so you can come out here and blame someone? I'm doing everything I can! You just need to go back home, or somewhere safe, and trust that I've got this handled." And so the crowd decided to have another blame game.

"Oh really? How old even are you? Like, ten?"  
"He looked like a seven year old when he started."  
"What's the Bat even doing? Letting a child fight crime?"  
"Batman! Where is he? He hiding, too?"  
"See, when it comes down to it, you heroes are just cowards!"

"HEY!" Artemis finally screamed, fed up with all the ridiculous verbal abuse. "You idiots have _no_ idea _what_ you're talking about! He's got more experience then _all_ of you combined! So, just _shut up_ and do what he says!" There was a momentary hush in which Robin turned and frowned at Artemis. Even without the mental link, she could tell just what the acrobat was thinking. _I don't need you to fight my battles for me. Now look what you've done... _And indeed, the mob, now twice as angered as they were before, attacked the two heroes and separated them. "Don't hurt them!" Robin yelled to Artemis, who answered, "I'm trying!" and did her best not to land any particularly painful blows as she fought off wave after wave of white hot angry people.

"There's too many of them!" she yelled at Robin, but after wildly searching around, she couldn't see him through the mass of people. After knocking down a few more civilians, she spotted him being virtually trampled by a particularly large group of yelling, spitting, shoving, clawing civilians. Gotham had officially gone crazy. So crazy, that Artemis had to punch a middle-aged woman who looked as if she were a mother and a wife on the back of the head, to keep her from yanking out her hair in pure rage.

The group around the Boy Wonder had slightly cleared, but even as the archer fought her way to him, she saw him crawl out from underneath them and gasp for air, clutching at his side and trying to escape, bleeding cuts and bruises blooming on his pale skin. And, just like that, the first man, the one with the gun, grabbed him by his cape and dragged him away, several of the torch-wielding companions following. Artemis yelled and screamed and pushed against the wave of people holding her back and realized that they had wanted this, they had wanted to separate the two and catch Robin. Even as the people holding her back finally dropped her on the highway and left, she knew the Boy Wonder was far too long gone for her to attempt to find him in the dark, where zeds could be roaming around.

Her only option was to drive the Batmobile herself and get help at Mt. Justice. Tired, angry, and disheveled, she let out a moan before traipsing over to the car and getting in the driver's seat, hoping there weren't any booby traps. Snow began to fall. It was much quieter inside now. Much lonelier inside now.

* * *

Artemis had sped the fastest the Batmobile could go all the way to Happy Harbor. Robin was on the forefront of her mind, and in a panicked frenzy, she leaped out of the car and made a beeline for Mt. Justice. Only when she heard a terrifying sound that made her jump out of her skin and scale the nearest tree, did she push Robin to the back of her mind. She hadn't seen them at first, but there were eight or nine zombies scouting the area for some reason.

This confused Artemis, until she turned a little in the direction they were heading, and saw a small jetliner landed on the sand, and Red Arrow climbing out of it. She felt extremely happy suddenly, knowing he was here. He could help her find Robin, he could guide them, but then she saw him rubbing his eyes. She knew instantly that the zombies were waiting right there for him to come out, and as he adjusted his eyes to the darkness, he wasn't seeing them. Right there- and he couldn't see them practically licking their lips in anticipation right in front of his face.

She wanted to call out, wanted to warn him, but all she could do was watch helplessly from her tree as the zeds tackled and pinned him to the ground. When they arose, there were no longer nine zombies, but ten.

And Roy Harper was one of them.

* * *

**I had to write another one! I can't help myself anymore. I'm sorry if you didn't like that one, with me killing off characters and all (well, infecting, i suppose it's not quite the same). Anyway, please review so I know what you thought. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to all my readers and especially to the reviewers! Here I go with another chapter. I wonder what chaos I can cause this time...**

* * *

Miss Martian did her best to stay composed that night, alone, in the mountain. Soon she realized, however, that trying to stop her imagination from running away with her was futile. After all, there _were_ zombies roaming around outside. Her eyes darted back and forth, from the television to the clock and back again in a continuous cycle of worry. It was only 9:15, she reminded herself. _It's safer for them if they just stay in Happy Harbor for the night, that way they won't risk a return journey until it's light again._

All this worrying was getting her nowhere. It wasn't even that late and she was exhausted. _Maybe I'll go to bed_, she thought. Turning the TV off, she was overcome by the sudden silence and stopped in her tracks. Memories of Earth films she'd watched, horror stories and zombie movies, suddenly came back to her. Suddenly she was reminded of the traumatizing mental training exercise she had failed everyone in. That feeling of aloneness and complete absence of hope had terrified her ever since, and now here she was, in what felt like the very same condition.

Aqualad should have returned by now, Conner and Wally were out there risking their lives, she had no idea how Robin was doing on his own since the comm call, and no one had heard a thing from Artemis yet! Her breath became heavy and her eyes flitted around, as she internally panicked. Finally, overwhelmed by everything that was happening, she sank into a chair and buried into herself, sobbing at the unfairness of it all. _I can't go to bed!_ she thought. _I can't sleep soundly while my friends are all out there!_ But she knew that whether or not she wanted to, she was going to fall asleep. Her best hope was to make sure there was no way any zombies could get in while she did.

She stood up and dried her eyes, now boosting her confidence with a resolution. _I'm sure Mt. Justice has a lockdown mode. _All she needed to do was activate it.

* * *

Artemis dared not move any closer in the direction she had last seen the zeds, Red Arrow being one of them. She opted to head straight for Mt. Justice, and the only way to do that was full-out sprint for the door and hope no zombies saw her. She knew it was risky, but it was the only way to save herself, and everyone else.

It took a deep breath and a lot of mental persuasion, but Artemis silently jumped out of the tree and, looking from side to side, sprinted for the door.

* * *

M'gann looked at a holographic map of the Cave and the control panel. There were four ways to enter and exit the Cave. The most used method, zeta tubes, were located on the inside as well as offline, and therefore in no way a potential zombie entrance. That left three. The first was the front entrance located at the base of the mountain, leading into the forest. The second was in the back, facing the coast and Happy Harbor itself. It was elevated to be at the height of about halfway up the mountain, but if the zombies knew how to climb, it could be a threat. The last one was the bay door, the hangar exit that the bioship used.

M'gann decided to close all three. Finding the controls for 'lockdown mode' she activated them. She could hear the sound of metal moving over the doors. Breathing a sigh of relief, she closed the control panel.

* * *

Artemis was only twenty yards from the front door when, suddenly, a large metal covering appeared and began to seal it off tightly. "NO!" she yelled as if it could stop it, completely disregarding the fact that the zombies had now spotted her and were moving in for the kill. Crossing the remaining distance, she now frantically pounded at the door, yelling and crying. "NO! I WILL _NOT_ DIE OUT HERE! _LET ME IN!_"

* * *

Megan was feeling rather satisfied with herself and had wandered into the library. _If I read something, maybe it'll get my mind off of everything... _She had just picked up A Tale of Two Cities, when she suddenly heard the pounding noises from the front door. Thinking it was a zombie pack, she hurried back to the mission room and pulled up the holographic screen with the security camera footage on it. She was shocked to see a completely disheveled Artemis pounding with all her might on the large metal covering. _"SOMEONE, LET ME IN!"_ Miss Martian was stunned for a second, but jumped right into action after realizing what was happening and opened the front door. She watched Artemis sigh and run inside.

Excited to see the archer, Miss Martian abandoned the mission room, running right into Artemis in the hallway, and failing to shut the door or notice the zed pack moving into the mountain quietly behind the archer. "Oof! What the...?" Artemis looked up to see who she had run into. "M'gann?! What is going on? The scanner wasn't working and there was this huge metal covering on the door..." Miss M laughed nervously and took Artemis by the hand, pulling her into the lounge area. "I am so glad you're alive! You have no idea how worried I was! Wally and Conner left to go help at the school to give food to the survivors, but Kaldur hasn't come back from Atlantis and Robin hasn't said a thing since-"

"Shh!" Artemis suddenly heard something and put a finger to her lips. Turning around, M'gann saw what the archer had heard- a zombie pack! Miss Martian screamed and completely froze in position. Artemis, enraged at her unluckiness and sick of zombie confrontations, grabbed M'gann and tore into the mission room. "I am done with this!" she mumbled, using the holoscreens to open the above hatch to Red Tornado's apartment. Miss Martian floated into the air, and then looked down to realize Artemis was now surrounded and unable to fly. M'gann's eyes glowed green and, stretching out her hands, she pushed back three of the nearby zeds and levitated Artemis up with her.

Artemis turned to the Martian and instructed, "We can't hurt them, they're just regular people!" For the first time all day, M'gann smiled confidently. "I can do that!" Suddenly, all the zombies below dropped like flies and fell into a deep sleep. This time it was Artemis left speechless. "Don't worry," M'gann reassured her. "They're only asleep. I activated an overwhelming tiredness in their minds. They'll only wake up when I command them to." Artemis stared, a little bit in awe and a little bit concerned, at the Martian for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief and leaning back on the wall. _ This zombie thing better not last_, she thought. _ All this and it's only Z-Day._

* * *

It had just turned ten in Gotham, and Robin was opening his eyes to see the interior of Gotham Academy's gymnasium. His mind flashed back to the fight with the crowd, his separation from Artemis, and his being practically pummeled, much to his embarrassment, by the mob, before his memory ended with the large kick to the head that had rendered him unconscious.

He was tied to a basketball pole, which, at first, seemed ridiculous. Until he looked down at himself and noticed that his utility belt and his gloves and his boots were gone. These were very paranoid civilians. Taking stock of the repurposing obviously done to the gym, he noticed the rest of the mob, most likely just angry everyday civilians, in small groups, socializing or just sitting alone, and the sleeping bags and blankets laid out across the gymnasium. In the area closer to him, a few more people, nervously looking around and obviously of criminal types, stalked about restlessly. Squinting at the two standing directly in front of him, Robin realized they were Falcone's men, and to him it looked as if an entire section of the gang had taken refuge here.

At least it made him feel a little less embarrassed to realize the fact that he hadn't been taken down by a mass of completely untrained civilians, there were at least several actual criminals among them. But it had a downside, too. Here he was, captured by a known to be vicious gang with no chance of anyone coming to rescue him. A groan of annoyance summoned the attention of the several armed people guarding him. One of them turned around and hollered in the direction of the unseen leader, "'E's awake, boss!"

One of the men in the corner interrupted his conversation and moved over. Robin immediately knew that this wasn't one of the men in Falcone's direct line, but he was the man that had started the verbal assault that lead to the fight. A thought suddenly occurred to him; these men all had guns, and yet none of them had started shooting in the fight. That meant they were keeping him alive on purpose, And that meant there was a plan behind all of this. And that meant that this unknown man- whoever he was- was dangerous.

"Well, it's about time," the leader sneered. Robin met this sneer with a confident expression of his own before calmly asking, "What are you doing?" The mobster spit in his face and slapped him. Robin met his eyes again and was about to speak when the man pulled out his gun and put the barrel right up against his forehead. "I'll be asking the questions here."

Robin said nothing but listened, stone faced, for any tidbit of information this mysterious man could give. "Why are there zombies attacking us?" the man asked. Robin answered truthfully, "I have no idea why, but I _do_ know there is an intelligence behind it. I would've found out, too, if you hadn't caused a riot."

The Falcone guy thought for a second. Eventually he gave Robin a harsh kick to the solar plexus. The acrobat recovered his breath and did his best to sit up straight and defiantly despite the burning pain in his ribs. "Keep talking, " the man instructed with a threatening glare. Robin obliged him. "From what I've seen of the zeds, I'd say it was Scarecrow's doing. Most likely, he released it in a gas. It could be a stimulant, but it'd have to be a strong one." The man scowled and muttered a few obscenities under his breath before saying, "So that's why they've got him in the police station." Robin perked up at this piece of information. "He's at the station? Is that why there's not any police out?"

One of the other men guarding nearby spoke up uninvited, "Well, actually, I heard the police were sealed in there. Them zeds are smart. They knocked some rubble off a skyscraper they attacked right in front of the HQ and-" he was caught off by the boss suddenly whirling around and shooting him in the chest. Robin gulped as the man slumped over, dead. No one else in the building seemed to care what had just transpired. "Never liked him," the boss mumbled. "'Sides, he was too talkative." The police were sealed inside? Then the Commissioner was probably alive. That was good.

"I suppose you'll use that information to your advantage, huh? So, you're as good as dead to us, then, " the man decided, again aiming his gun at Robin's temple and clicking back the hammer. Robin couldn't help but widen his eyes. A sudden noise of a door opening in the main gym area caused everyone to turn. In were walking two other Falcone gangsters, each carrying shopping bags bulging with food. The boss left Robin's side and stood to see what they carried and what news they brought. "Look at that!" Robin mused quietly. "The criminals and the civilians- helping each other out."

After the boss man had conversed with the food bringers, he walked back over to Robin and growled, "Lucky. The Big Boss wants to keep you around." Robin was a little surprised. If this man wasn't _really_ the boss, was he taking orders from Falcone himself? And why did Falcone want him alive?

He didn't get much chance to contemplate it, for the power suddenly blinked out and all the civilians panicked. The gang members ran around and tried to calm them, but eventually shots broke out, intended as warnings and aimed for the ceiling. One such shot, from the boss of the building happened not to go for the ceiling. Robin felt an inexplicable pain searing through his right shoulder and screamed out. The chaos settled, but Robin's reeling head did not. He began gasping for breath and broke out in a sweat. Hoping there was at least one civilian who took pity on him in the gym he called weakly, "S-someone, help..." But no one was listening anymore.

A half hour passed with Robin able to do nothing more than apply pressure to the gunshot wound and hope the bullet hadn't hit the brachial artery. By 11:00, Robin could tell there was at least some internal bleeding. His shoulder had started swelling, he was becoming less alert and more nauseous, and his pulse was slowing down. He sucked in a breath and held on. He knew the layout of this place- it was his school. If he could just escape while they were sleeping, he could get out and get some medical attention. But he felt the sleepiness tugging at him. He moaned quietly to himself and increased pressure on the wound.

It was quite possible that he would obtain an infection or bleed out if he stopped. So, into the night, he kept pressing and kept praying.

* * *

Barry had not eaten, and that was a bad sign. Most of the League had retired to bed, but he had not. That too was a bad sign. Bruce knew better than to force someone in mourning to take care of themselves. He knew Barry and he trusted that the man would be himself eventually. But he needed Barry's help. So, from six to twelve they worked together, both quiet, and both internally in pain.

Bruce knew Barry would need a distraction, and work was the best distraction. So Batman had gently asked the Flash to help him identify the chemical being used to raise the dead to life. It had taken hours to find the chemical, but the World's Greatest Detective had finally uncovered one of Scarecrow's chemical prototypes to be correct. To his chagrin, he had been forced to administer the chemical to a dead rat in the laboratory which, indeed, came to life and attempted to bite him. He had put the rat in a metal cage and found Flash.

Barry had, of course, been willing to help when he found out he was needed to identify the chemical. And so, after staring into a microscope, jotting down notes, looking again and again at the holoscreen displaying the chemical's molecular structure and examining the rat, still hysterical with rage but in Batman's custody, he finally called out, "It's a tianeptine variant!"

Batman rushed over from the other end of the lab as Barry explained, "Some of the symptoms for tianeptine that's used in hospitals to treat severe depression are agitation, anxiety, and irritability. Scarecrow used a strong dose of tianeptine and worked it into an amphetamine that I've never seen before and somehow raised the dead. It seems to increase the amphetamine's effects and the amphetamines seem to be noticeably, though not overwhelmingly, stronger. There's no risk, like you would normally have, being on two stimulants at once, because these people are already dead. He's somehow worked it into their systems permanently- unless it can be reversed. He probably released a gas."

Batman nodded. "He tends to prefer releasing gases than injecting his drugs into his victims, anyway. He likes working with amphetamines and has used them to create his concoctions in the past. I'll try to get the information to the Team. Thank you, Barry. You should get some rest." Flash didn't even try to argue. All he knew was that if they could just tell the kids what it was, the kids could get a hold of Scarecrow and find an antidote.

As he traipsed off to bed, he thought about Iris. If only he had been able to warn her. He still felt useless.

Bruce watched him go and, sighing, pulled his cowl off. As he silently entered his room for the night, empty save for a dresser and a bed, he remembered the effects of the training exercise he had initiated. Being alone on Earth without mentors to help them was now a fear for the Team, thanks to his underestimation. He couldn't sleep, thinking about how Alfred would be surviving, how the Commissioner would be handling things, even how the city itself would be coping.

But, most of all, he wondered how Dick was, his first night alone of being terrified of zombies waiting to infect him at any turn. Dick would've been riding the bus home from school when the whole thing happened. If only there hadn't been a meeting... Bruce resolved that when this whole thing was over, he would spend more time with his ward. He needed to cherish this time- before it was gone. He missed his sidekick. Whispering a prayer, he finally fell asleep.

"Protect my boy. Keep him strong for me."

* * *

**I'm really on a roll now. Please review! I really want to know what everyone thinks. I'll take constructive criticism, even ideas if they're specific requests, because I've got this whole story outlined now.** **Have a nice week!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I have been on quite the roll with this story. So much so that i had to go downstairs in my Batman PJ pants that my Dad bought be just so that he knew I was alive and still loved him... But I still decided to write this and post asap. I feel like if I wait too long, the suspense will kill us all. So, onwards...**

**I don't own YJ or Valentine's Day by Linkin Park.**

* * *

Gotham's Commissioner tended not to sleep much on a regular basis, but took power naps when he needed them. He hadn't slept since the beginning of the week and here he was, at 1:00 on a Saturday morning, surviving off of coffee and adrenaline, and interrogating Dr. Jonathan Crane.

Scarecrow had broken out of Arkham Asylum a little over a week ago, and had finished his work on whatever serum of his had raised the dead. One of his officers had found Crane near a graveyard shortly after the Awakening and had taken him into custody. Gordon had immediately begun questioning him. He hadn't gotten much out of the doctor up until this point, but as the night continued to pass, his anger grew and his patience shrank.

He finished his coffee and once again entered the interrogation room. Crane looked up from the captivating spot on the floor he had previously been interested in and smiled charmingly. "What are you going to ask_ this_ time?" Gordon sat down and looked the criminal in the eye. He began talking with a rather direct question. "How did you do it?" Scarecrow raised his eyebrows. "Now that's a new one." He waited a second, then said, "I combined my own favorite amphetamine and a new tianeptine supply, and- voila!- the dead come to life. That sound good enough for ya? Surprised you hadn't figured that one out yet. Guess your labs aren't as good as you thought."

The Commissioner narrowed his eyes at the doctor and asked, "Why are you doing this? What could you possibly _gain_ from making these creatures to roam around biting people?" Gordon tried to keep a cool head as Dr. Crane leaned forward and quietly stated, "Okay, pal, I'm gonna tell you something I haven't told anyone yet. I _didn't_ intend to raise the dead. If you really think about it, zombies are as much a threat to me as everyone else." The Commissioner had, indeed, thought about it, but kept his mouth shut as Scarecrow kept talking.

"I didn't _know_ I was standing next to a graveyard when I released my chemical gas. It was _supposed_ to enslave the _city_ by stimulating their brains and then shutting down their consciousnesses and then giving me control over them- and even_ you'll_ admit that would have been better. But instead, I turn around to go back to my lab and give a command to test if it worked on the people, and now I'm suddenly running for my life just like the rest of you."

Crane suddenly looked deep into Gordon's eyes suspiciously and continued, "I know you'd do anything to protect this city, but you seem a little bit more concerned than you should be. You know the Bat, he'll take care of it like usual. And I'll just break outta here and experiment some more until I get the right chemical. But if you'll let _me_ ask a question, I've got one right now. What could you possibly _lose_ from dealing with these 'creatures roaming around biting people'?"

Jim's expression darkened and suddenly he flew out of his chair, pounded his fist in the table, and yelled, "_How about my daughter?!_" Scarecrow raised an eyebrow. "_That's right_," Gordon hissed. "Those _monsters_ that _you_ created attacked our car when I was driving her home from school. _I_ made it out without being bitten. _She_ didn't. And it's _your_ fault. _Nothing_ can change that." Crane looked at the seething officer for a moment, then shrugged. "Fair enough. But I have another question; where_ is_ the Bat in all this chaos?"

The Commish shook his head and sat back down. "The signal's been on since it happened. He hasn't showed. I can only hope he's not a zombie himself. Well, _we_ can hope. And I think _I'll_ be asking the questions here." No one spoke for a few seconds until Gordon started again with another question, "Is there any way it can be reversed?" Crane sighed. "There _was _a way, but they destroyed the controls before I could stop them." He smirked and tapped his forehead. "They're_ smart_ zombies."

Gordon's frustration picked up again at his lack of options. "Can't you reverse-engineer it?" "Well, it would be difficult without any zombies to study," Scarecrow chuckled. "And you wouldn't want to go out there and catch some even if you could. They have orders to kill anyone who attacks them."

The Commissioner was stunned. "You never mentioned that!" Crane's face became rather mysterious as he replied, "But didn't I? I said my original purpose was to enslave- and I did, only with zombies. I told them to kill anyone who attacked them, which hasn't happened yet, but it will if heroes get involved. _That_ was the first order I gave them, and _that's_ when they destroyed my controls. Like I said, _smart_ zombies. They still have to follow my one order, even if they end up killing me, but that's the only one they'll follow. I can't fix my controls, so I can't just order them back to their graves. If I hadn't lost control..."

"-If you hadn't lost control, I would have Barbara back," Gordon whispered threateningly. He suddenly stood up and pushed in his chair. "I'll be back, " he threw over his shoulder as he exited the room. But he was lying. He wouldn't be interrogating Scarecrow again.

He'd be finding a way out of here.

* * *

In Happy Harbor at 4:30 that morning, Wally woke up and looked out the window. The way was so far clear of zed packs. He knew he could speed to Mt. Justice, but that would be risky if he accidentally ran right into a hunting pack.

Wally and Conner had, after leaving the day before, gone to the main supermarket and brought back to Happy Harbor High enough food and more for all the survivors, and hadn't run into zombies the entire time. Slightly worrying, but also slightly reassuring. Everyone went to bed in classrooms, the best heated rooms in the school, while snow fell outside throughout the night.

The two had decided that the food they had collected would last the survivors for about three more days. Happy Harbor wasn't very large, and there was little over half the population present, so KF and Superboy had decided to take some of the excess food to Mt. Justice, considering the fact that Wally had earlier completely cleared all the cabinets.

Conner stirred nearby and threw off his blankets, seeing Wally at the window and walking over to him. "We should go," the clone said. "M'gann will be worrying." They set out at a human pace, and were halfway to the mountain when the zed pack finally found them. They didn't have an awful lot of time to react, but seconds after Conner tossed the grocery bags aside, the leader of the zombie pack went immediately for him.

Wally immediately went for the nearest tree. He hadn't climbed trees much as a kid, excluding the one time Dick had gotten sad and climbed a tall tree, refusing to come down, and so Wally had taught himself to climb so he could at least join his friend in the branches above. Wally wasn't sure exactly how fast he could make it to the next tree, but with Conner distracting the zeds, he could at least gain some distance.

A thought suddenly came to him and he turned and yelled to Superboy, "Don't hurt them, they're just regular people!" As he kept going, he was surprised to hear Conner object to his warning from behind. "Actually..." the clone said, a little uncertainly. "Not all of them are." Confused, Wally turned around to see exactly what Conner meant.

He shouldn't have turned around.

"Oh, God..._no!_ Wha...h-how?" Leading the pack and currently all out fighting with Superboy, was zombie Red Arrow. Wally's mouth opened and closed wordlessly. Suddenly, very angry and very desperate, he screamed out, "ROY!" Suddenly, the zombie turned and looked at him. So, they recognized their names. To an extent, they knew who they were- who they _had_ been. Immediately, it turned out to be a bad thing. With a little more than average human speed, Roy was climbing the tree after Wally, who panicked and missed the next branch.

Wally plummeted to the ground, and landed on his ankle with a sickening crack. He knew automatically that it was broken. Zombie-Roy screeched animalistically and jumped from the tree, also somewhat inhumanly, to land next to the groaning speedster. Red Arrow's teeth were inches from Wally's ankle when Superboy hurtled out of nowhere and took Red Arrow out with a flying tackle and a hit to the head. Hissing through his teeth, KF struggled into a sitting-up position and asked, "Did you hurt any of them?" Conner shook his head as he moved to Wally's side and scooped him into his broad arms. "I just hit them in the back of the head. They're all fine."

Wally groaned at the situation while Conner went back for the groceries and slung them over his shoulder. "This is so humiliating!" the speedster whined as Superboy took to the sky and came down again in a jolting landing, to jump into the air again and repeat the cycle. "Be happy Robin isn't here to tease you," the clone grunted.

* * *

M'gann had been looking carefully at the security cameras all night while Artemis dragged the zombies into one corner of the mission room. As predicted, neither of them had gotten a wink of sleep, but on the upside, neither of them had noticed the passage of time while they enjoyed each others' company. Artemis had explained all about the Batmobile, the mob, and Robin. She had left the Batmobile in the woods when she had heard zeds, she remembered, not wanting the sounds of the engine to draw them to her, and then had completely forgotten about it in the wake of Roy's infection and the lockdown issue. She was about to risk going and getting it when Miss M suddenly saw two figures and opened the front door with the control panel.

As Conner carried Wally in, the first thing the speedster asked was, "Where's Robin?" M'gann looked pityingly at him and answered quietly, "Not here." Wally argued back, "But we saw the Batmobile in the woods on the way here! It has to be-"

"I drove the Batmobile here," Artemis interrupted. She went on to explain the whole story to Wally, who looked forsakenly at the floor by the time she was done. M'gann sat him down on the couch and tended to his ankle while the other two discussed what to do. Conner opted to stay at the fortified mountain and re-stock the cabinets, keeping an eye on the security cameras and a special eye out for Roy. M'gann put in the fact that Aqualad hadn't returned yet from Atlantis, and she wished to go after him. Artemis then decided that she was going back to Gotham to find Robin, since she was there when he was taken and felt largely responsible.

"How fast can I get there?" she asked. "Ooh! You can take the bioship!" M'gann suggested. "That cuts the ride down to 116 miles, if you're going at a normal pace." Artemis nodded and headed for the hangar. "See ya." "WAIT!" Wally yelled from the couch. "I'm coming, too." M'gann started to argue, but Wally stood right up and brushed past her to join Artemis. "Are you sure?" the archer asked, trying to look unimpressed. Wally looked as serious as she'd ever seen him as he answered, "I knew a man who got shot in the chest twice in Iwo Jima and kept fighting for over 40 hours before he got any professional medical help. Pain is all psychological. I'll be_ fine._"

As the two of them walked to the hangar, Artemis mused on the strength of Wally and Robin's friendship. She knew they were tight, but here KF was, completely disregarding his own health for his best friend. She knew that's why he had so firmly decided to come, and it was also why she had decided not to stop him. She wondered if anyone on the Team would've done that for her. _They probably don't trust you enough, _she thought, before frowning at herself. _No, that's something Dad would say. Anyone of us would risk our lives for each other. I'm in no place to question that. _

* * *

Robin blearily opened his eyes. His shoulder was still pounding with pain, but he knew he needed to get out before the gangsters woke up. He struggled onto his left side and got a look at the chain tying him to the pole. It was wrapped from his wrists to the pole twice, but the first wrap had a little wiggle room in the distance between. Wiggle room was Robin's specialty. He turned as far onto his side as he could manage without pulling his right shoulder too harshly and further injuring it, but it gave him enough room to squeeze his right wrist through his bonds, which widened the space between the pole and the rope, so that he could easily slip through his left hand and carefully stand up and step over the ropes.

He leaned against the pole and caught his breath for a moment, before speculating about his belt, boots, and gloves. As he crept from one sleeping body to another, he discovered that the floor in the gym was quite cold on his barefeet. He briefly glanced at the window. It was still snowing. That was a bad thing if someone decided to go after him. He'd be easily tracked if someone knew what they were doing. It would be too dangerous to take the ground anyways, the zeds could be out.

Finding his supplies in the pillowcase of the boss-man, he silently donned them and exited via the side door. It was quite advantageous that he had been brought to his own school, because he knew all the entrances and exits. He checked the time on his wrist computer and found that it was just after five. The gangmen could be waking up soon.

Robin kept to the trees and rooftops, not really knowing where he was going. The Manor would be a useless idea. Artemis had taken the Batmobile and the R-cycle was at Mt. Justice for repairs. The airport was too far to travel to if he wanted to steal a plane and buses, taxis, and trains probably weren't still going to be on schedule. Exhausted and exerted, Robin landed behind a building near the train tracks and sat down, completely spent, on what looked like a bench, with the tracks right in front of him. What felt like hours but was in fact minutes passed before he looked around and realized he was at the train station.

_What am I doing here? _He thought dully. _There aren't any trains coming. I can't get to Mt. Justice. I can't find the Team. I can't fix this. I'll get bitten, or I'll bleed to death. Maybe the gang will find me. Some other criminal will kill me. They all hate me, it makes no difference. Maybe I have no hope. Maybe I should just give up. Or maybe...maybe there's some miracle worker out there ready to...sweep me away to safety..._

_Where are you when I need you, Bruce?_

_I need you now._

With these thoughts, Richard dropped his head into his pulled up knees and closed his eyes. He knew exhaustion meant blood loss. He knew he didn't have much time. He knew he was giving up. He didn't put pressure on his wound. It didn't matter anymore. He didn't weep. He didn't groan. He didn't feel sorry for himself. At some point he could no longer hold up his weight and fell off the bench and into the snow. A sad song played itself in his mind, over and over.

_I used to be my own protection, but not now_

_Cause my path had lost direction, somehow_

_A black wind took you away, from sight_

_And held the darkness over day, that night_

_And the clouds above move closer_

_Looking so dissatisfied_

_And the ground below grew colder_

_As they put you down inside_

_But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing_

He fell asleep and dreamed a great many dreams. They were happy memories of his parents, the circus, Bruce, his life as Robin, and even his friends and the Team. He found himself in Gotham on a snowy night, as the memory of the forming of the Team faded from sight. In his mind, Robin swung from building to building. A dark but protective guardian shadow swung along with him. He felt free again, and happy.

Then, there was a loud snapping and he was falling. He looked desperately around for his protector, falling in slow motion. He fell slowly through the crisp January air, until suddenly the scene around his falling form changed from a nighttime city to a colorful circus tent.

Below him lay his parents, blood-bathed and broken, in the center ring. Just like they had that day. He hit the bottom. He didn't feel like he had fallen a long distance. He was alive and well, sitting up as if waking up and crawling out of bed, but longed to throw himself off the platform again and hit the ground properly as his parents had. He was tired of escaping death. He didn't think he could anymore.

He stood as the scene again changed, this time to a graveyard in the early morning, where the dawn was just barely painting the horizon with hues of pink and orange.

Before him lay two graves. One stone read John Grayson, while the other read Mary Grayson. In his hand he held one rose. He stepped forward to place it in between their graves, but after his first step, a hand suddenly shot out of John's grave, shortly followed by Mary's. Horrified, he took a step back while the two bodies crawled out of their graves. They looked as they had when they had fallen, not dressed up nicely as they had been at their burial. He hadn't wanted them dressed nicely that day. They hadn't looked the same at their funeral as they had from day to day of their actual lives. Now they seemed to be mocking him, fulfilling his request but only so they could drag him down as well.

He tried to scream, but his mouth was clamped shut. He tried to run, but his feet were glued to the ground. He tried to close his eyes, but they were fastened open. He begged for the scene to change. He begged for the reassuring awakening to come. He begged for Bruce to save him. His parents just moved closer and closer, teeth bared to infect him with the poison that would officially mark his end.

He was able to do nothing for himself, and as he slept and snow fell around him, marking time's passage, his feverish dreams only grew worse. He was on Death's doorstep again, and this time he wasn't sure he could back out.

* * *

**Felt emotional and wanted to type this part. I know I'm only making things worse, but they have to get worse before they get better. Remember that. About the zeds: _"They have orders to kill anyone who attacks them"_, as Crane said. Remember that, too. I'm not sure how I did with Scarecrow, so please tell me what you thought. I just love how every chapter is longer than the last! I don't even know how I'm pulling this off. Wonder if I can make 4,000 words next time... Thank you for reading all of you, and have a good day :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well I took my little halfway break for this story (partially forced to by my stomach which decided to contract a serious bug that had me vomiting until I tasted blood in my mouth *shiver*) but I believe I have my thoughts ready for "Act 2". This half will be quite a bit longer than the last one, even just this chapter is quite a lengthy one and I went through two drafts before I was satisfied. Decided to try and craft a plot pyramid for this and it was definitely not a pyramid. A messy looking shape of some kind and my literature teacher would be appalled if she saw it, but who cares!? She couldn't possibly understand the gift to mankind that Young Justice is****. Oh well. Plot pyramids are overrated anyways. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Wally was the kind of person that liked to talk a lot. He talked when he was restless, excited, nervous, happy, worried, energized, sad- just about all the time, even when his mouth was full. Wally had been silent the entire flight to Gotham, and while he had been staring off into space like a crazy person, Artemis had been pushing the bioship as fast as she could go.

It had been when Artemis had decided that she had held her temper back as far as she could and the two of them had been carefully maneuvering their way around the city, that Artemis finally erupted. "Hey, do you wanna join me on_ this_ planet? You're faster than me, and, as much as I'd hate to admit it, we could really use your powers here." The speedster simply looked at her emotionlessly. "Fine," he finally spoke. "Where do we start?" Artemis nodded towards the main building of Gotham Academy and explained, "They took him that way. I know a way in. Come on."

As Artemis led them through Gotham Academy, KF didn't ask her how she knew her way around here- when she hadn't been on the Amazo mission- or anything of the sort. He was silent. And while she was thankful that his silence aided the "stealth" part of the stealth op, his unusual behavior was disconcerting (_heavy on the dis_, as Robin would've said...). As usual, she brushed it off, until she heard angry voices from the gymnasium.

The archer nocked an arrow and peered around the double doors to see a man talking to two others. A closer look and a mental racking of all the gangs she knew finally resulted in her attention coming to the tatoos on their necks. _Falcone's guys. _One of the men was angry and paced about, raising his voice at the two others occasionally. A quick scan of the room revealed that a number of civilians huddled around each other with sleeping bags and groceries littered around them. On the far end of the room stood what looked like ten to fifteen more of Falcone's men with the three who were talking, near the basketball pole. Robin was nowhere in sight, the only remnant of his stay there being a rope tied around the pole and a few blood smudges nearby.

Her choice of action needed no communication to Wally and both of them were immediately on the same page. Take out the criminals, ask the civilians what happened. Kid Flash zoomed in before anyone saw him coming and disarmed all of the criminals, dropping their guns next to the pole and knocking them out swiftly- perhaps with a little more force than was necessary. Artemis swooped in with her bow and arrows and took out gangster after gangster with trick arrows, net arrows, foam arrows, even sharp arrows just to pin them to the wall.

Thirteen gang members were out in under twenty seconds. Seeing a friend's blood stain does that to people. The civilians in the center of the room were practically in shock. One woman, whom Artemis recognized from earlier, clutching a small boy to her chest, called out in fear, "Please don't hurt us!" Artemis slung her bow over her shoulder and walked forwards slowly with raised hands in a placating gesture, knowing these civilians were probably traumatized and upset, and said soothingly, "We won't hurt you, we're trying to help you people. See?" She pointed to the arrow symbol on her chest and continued, "We're heroes. I'm Artemis, this is Kid Flash. We just wanna ask some questions and then we'll be right on our way, okay?"

Seeing no objection, she anticipated the fact that KF wasn't going to do any talking, and she was asking all the questions. "First off, "she started. "Why are you here with a gang of Falcone's men?" She was still surprised that Wally hadn't called her out on recognizing the gang they'd fought, but averted her thoughts of him as the first woman spoke up. "Because we've got no choice. We'll all die out there- from the weather or those...monsters. My husband was a meteorologist before he got bitten, and he saw a snowstorm coming. It'll be here within hours. None of us want to hide out with a bunch of criminals, but at least they'll go out and get us groceries, even if they go shooting when anyone gets rowdy or the power goes out. Either way, it's more than you heroes are doing, strangely enough. False hope gets us nowhere."

When it appeared she was done with her rant, Artemis filed away the information given and asked her next question. "Have any of you seen Robin here?" A man who was holding a baby and a crying little girl spoke up next. "Yeah, the mobsters wanted us to capture him. They tied 'im to the pole over there and talked a bit. That's when the power blew out and they started shooting everywhere. I think they hit him, but I couldn't see real well. He must be alive, though, 'cause we woke up and he was gone. The gangsters got all pissed and sent out scouts, but three of 'em didn't come back and those last two were empty-handed. That's probably why they were arguing with 'Boss'. I didn't hear real well, though, I was busy with Atria..."

Wally finally perked up and beat Artemis to the next question, "Did anyone hear what they said?" An old woman nearby weakly lifted a hand. "I did. The scouts said the boy's trail led towards the tracks, but they lost 'im before they were sure. Some monsters jumped out at them and bit the other three. The two left got spooked and ran back here. Boss wanted 'em to go back. Somethin' 'bout snow falling overnight and covering up tracks..." A young woman, who looked at least several moths pregnant and resembled the old woman who just spoke tuned in, "Yeah, well those were some real dumb scouts if they didn't look for a blood trail to follow!"

This comment sent Wally off the edge and, angered, he bolted from the room in a blur, undoubtedly headed for the train tracks. Artemis considered following but then, realizing how useless it would be, began thinking aloud, "Well, I'll never catch up, and I'm sure he can handle Robin. I have you people to help now, anyway, with _these_ guys incapacitated. 'Kay, I'm gonna make this up to you guys." She raised her voice so the crowd could hear. "The heat in this school is obviously knocked out along with the power and I got no idea how to fix it, so I suggest we move somewhere secure _with_ power. Does anyone know of the most secure place in Gotham?"

A teenaged boy speculated jokingly, "Gotham Bank, maybe?" and got a few laughs out of his friends before his mother shut him up with a slap on the head and suggested the police department. A man in the back of the crowd shook his head. "Naw, the police are completely shut in. Wouldn't a prison be the most secure?" A few calls of "Yeah!" and "How about Blackgate?" went around before Artemis shook her head. "Too far. We'll get picked off before we make it."

A nun, sitting in the back of the crowd with a group of boys from the Catholic orphanage, gave the winning suggestion. "Arkham Asylum is the most secure building in Gotham, save for Wayne Tower, which I hear is surrounded already. The Asylum may be dangerous, but it is warm, secure, and not too far to walk. We should take refuge there." When it had been confirmed that there was, in fact, a wing of the Asylum without any crazies occupying it from a young man who had been a guard there, Artemis agreed to the suggestion and told the people to pack what they could carry, groceries included.

Finding the man who had said the police were shut in, she pulled him aside and asked him for more details. "Yeah, it's completely blocked off. All the patrols that were out got zombified, and everybody else is trapped, including Commissioner Gordon. The Batsignal's been on for hours, but no answer has come." Artemis hummed pensively to herself and said, "I'll go to the Commish and see if we can't get them out. You take the people to Arkham. If you run into a hunting squad, split up and hide so they can't catch you. Got it? Protect those who can't protect themselves. I'll be back."The man nodded and began herding people out. Artemis used the gym's side door to leave the school and headed out into the snow. She was reluctant to use up her arrows, knowing she would need them later, but she had to get to the PD before the sun rose and the squads came out and the storm came. This was the quickest way.

* * *

Commissioner Gordon waited on the rooftop, gazing at the light of the Batsignal while snow fell softly all around. The shovel lay next to him, but he'd given up tossing snow off the building a few hours ago. He was going to escape, to try and climb down the side of the building and hunt the streets for survivors and see how many zombie squads were roaming. But he would wait until the sun was completely up. It was dangerous with zombies in the dark.

The sun still kissed the horizon at 6:30, but Gordon patiently waited. He needed to think smart. Suddenly, an arrow flew past him and attached itself to the ground. A line extended behind it from a rooftop a few buildings away. Squinting in that direction, he saw a green clad archer girl zooming towards him with her bow on the line. He jumped aside just as she landed beside him and replaced the arrow in her quiver, very quickly and businesslike, as if this were just another day and just another life-threatening situation.

He looked at her outfit for a moment before completely ignoring the irrelevance of the question and asking, suspiciously, "Isn't Green Arrow's sidekick a boy?" She turned to face him with a very unamused look on her face and replied hastily, "I'm new. It doesn't matter. A group of survivors are on their way to Arkham Asylum for protection in an empty wing. I came here to find out the situation with the police." Gordon exhaled loudly and rubbed his neck. "Well, now's as good a time as any. We're completely sealed in. This rooftop is the only outside access we've got. We've captured Scarecrow, aka Jonathan Crane, who has caused all this and we questioned him. I think I can relay that information later. For now, I need you to help get me off this rooftop and find Batman."

Artemis winced noticeably and turned to look at the snowy streets, gazing at nothing in particular. "About that...If you didn't see that whole Hall of Justice speech thing with Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian, basically the fact is that the whole League is offworld right now and they have no way of getting back. Batman included. They're trying to fix it, obviously, but it's taking awhile for some reason. The rest of my Team is on Earth. Aqualad should be in Atlantis, Miss Martian is going there with him, Superboy is at our HQ, and Kid Flash is out here somewhere looking for Robin."

"So you're organizing rescue missions?" the Commissioner asked. Artemis shrugged. "We're working on it. I need to get all of your people out of here and to Arkham Island to help the Gotham survivors. Think you can get them out one by one quietly and without tipping off the zeds with my arrows? I've got a few foam ones left, but the more I use now, the less I use later when I need to fight zombies."

"I think that's possible," the man agreed before heading back into the building to tell everyone inside the escape plan. He turned back suddenly with a question. "What about Crane?" Artemis thought for a moment. "Bring 'im. He could be useful to us, especially if KF shows up with Robin anytime soon." She smirked as Gordon started walking towards his office again and called out, "Oh, and Commish? If you ever get around to it, there are thirteen unconscious criminals in the Gotham Academy gymnasium. Just thought you might want to know."

Gordon rolled his eyes.

* * *

Miss Martian made it to Atlantis at around 7:00, and was very relieved to see that there weren't any terrifying, mutated mer-zombies swimming around in packs and biting citizens. But she still needed to talk with Aqualad, and she knew where he would be. She set her course for the palace and swam as fast as she could.

Sea creatures and mer-people of all different forms and appearances swam to and fro in a rush, as if they were making ready to sweep in and attack an enemy with the element of surprise on their side. Miss Martian had a hunch that this was what they were intending to do, and she hoped she was right. The palace doors were wide open with not a guard in sight. In pre-war times, she assumed, they would all be readying for battle. Voices floated from the throne room and she cautiously swam in to see what was going on.

Kaldur was deep in a conversation with Queen Mera and Prince Orm, a hushed urgency about their voices. M'gann cleared her throat upon approaching and bowed hastily before asking Aqualad, "What's the news?"

Twenty minutes later, Aqualad, Mera, Orm, M'gann, and three of the king's best men sat around the dining table and discussed the plan. "...And if we make it up there before the storm hits we'll be able to meet with the Team and figure out a way to stop them! We could turn this entire apocalypse backwards just by a simple reverse-engineering or-" Megan's rambling was cut off my a beep from the table. Orm pulled up a holo-screen and strengthened the frequency of the message he was receiving.

"Hello? Watchtower to the Ground. This is Batman. Come in."

Miss M shot up from her seat at these words, but the Prince continued in his steady way to listen as Batman paused from repeating himself and then he spoke, "Batman? This is Prince Orm. Atlantis reads you. What is your situation?"

Batman made no heavy sigh of relief or obvious voice change from overwhelming emotion, and no one knew quite what he was feeling at the moment, but he replied swiftly. "Zeta tubes are down as you may have noticed. The League is trapped on the Watchtower and..." The Bat suddenly trailed off and a few background noises were heard before he spoke again, "I have Aquaman here asking how things are going. How is the ground doing?"

The Queen stood from her seat and moved closer to the holo-screen where the speaker was and called out, "My love? I am well and all of Atlantis is unharmed. We prepare for war on the living dead. Kaldur'ahm has been gracious enough to come to us with Miss Martian and inform us of the current state of the Surface." Prince Orm cut in, "Things are not looking good, I am afraid, but the Team has hopes to reverse engineer the chemical that caused this abominable breakout of festering dead surface-dwellers. I mean no offense, of course..."

The King spoke from the Watchtower. "My Queen, I am relieved that you and Kaldur are well. And Orm, I thank you for organizing the people in this trying time. Again I am indebted to you. Batman, could you open the frequency for the comm links as well? We should speak with the rest of the Team as well."

Moments later, Superboy's voice came from the Mount Justice line to the joint conversation with a timid, "Hello? Is this working? I thought it was knocked out. Can anyone hear me?" M'gann's face lit up and she answered before anyone else, "Conner! It's me, M'gann! I'm in Atlantis with Aqualad, Queen Mera, and Prince Orm. The Watchtower established connection again. Are you okay?" "I'm alright," he explained. "I've been making rounds around the mountain with Wolf. If anything gets in, he'll smell it or I'll hear it. I haven't seen Arrow, though, since I was out with Wally early this morning."

A few more background noises were heard, turning into distinct voices until Green Arrow's voice grew loud enough for them to hear, "Huh? Did someone call me? Somebody said Arrow. Hey, what's going on over here?! Batman? Did you get a connection? Well, why didn't you say so?!" Arrow's voice went from being miffed at being left out to a call that beckoned in the other Leaguers to the conversation. "Hey, guys, he's got a connection!" GA said from the Watchtower.

Meanwhile, Aqualad looked quizzically at Miss M, who leaned over and explained quietly what had happened to Red Arrow and retold Artemis and Robin's story, ending up where they were now, while the League and the others around the dining table exchanged details on the zombie situation and greetings with the rest of the League. Kaldur's face grew grave. "The Team! They are my friends... I cannot abandon my colleagues. I will organize a military unit when we have given our intel to the Justice League. You should return to Mt. Justice and help prepare the way." M'gann quietly nodded and kept her relief over not having to se her gills anymore to herself as Artemis' voice came over the comm link frequency next, confused, "Hey, is this thing on? Can you hear me? Hello?"

"Artemis, this is Batman. We have regained connection with your-" Once again Batman was cut off.

"Artemis? Are you alright, sweetie? The phone stopped working and I wondered-"

"MOM!" Artemis' voice was obviously very relieved and she would've continued asking questions of her mother but M'gann cut in, confused. "I thought you left your comm link at home." "There were extras in the bioship," Artemis explained. M'gann would've kept on talking and asked how things were going and whether Robin was alright or not, if Batman hadn't cleared his throat. Silence immediately settled. "I want a full report on your current situation, now." Artemis wondered in the back of her mind if that was the kind of thing he was always telling Robin to do, but wasted no time on explaining everything, even though she wasn't able to get very far. "Kid Flash and I set out to find Robin, and we found some-"

"Robin's missing?"

Artemis sighed at Batman's interruption and dreaded his reaction to the news she would have for him. "Yes, I ran into him on our way to Mt. Justice where a mob of angry civilians apparently taking refuge in the Gotham Academy gym with a group of Falcone's gangsters attacked us and took him. I went to the mountain and Wally and I set out to find him. _Then_, we got to the gym and-"

"Wait, is Wally okay?!"

Martian Manhunter stopped the train of questions that followed Barry's first one by interrupting him. "Allow the girl to speak, Flash."

Artemis tried not to roll her eyes and continued, "-we got to the gym and took down the gang. The civilians told us that Robin was heading for the train station but there's a big snowstorm coming. Wally ran off to find him. They told me that the police were completely sealed in, so I had the people all move to an empty wing of Arkham Asylum to keep them safe and then I went to the Gotham PD. I'm with Commissioner Gordon and his officers now, and we're on our way to Arkham. Here's the best part; we've got Scarecrow with us, and with the right motivation, he might be able to make us an antidote by reverse engineering the chemical formula he made."

Batman put aside the annoyance that he had at not being able to interrogate Scarecrow himself, but instead asked the question that Artemis had been dreading, "Is Robin okay?"

She took a deep breath. "The civilians said that he got shot when the gang got startled by the power going out. He's alive, though, if he escaped and made it to the tracks. Wally should be back any second now with him. Hey, is Atlantis connected to this thing?"

Batman said nothing at her immediate change of topic but simply answered with his teeth gritting together in anger at the news he'd just received, "Yes." "Okay," Artemis went on. "Miss Martian? Are you there?" "Yes," answered the Martian girl. Artemis gave her some instructions, "Could you meet me at Mt. Justice? I'm taking the bioship back and I'm bringing Scarecrow. Between you, me, and Conner, Scarecrow will be making a cure in no time."

Miss Martian agreed to the idea and listened to the remainder of the conversation. "Have you had any progress on getting the zeta tubes to work?" Prince Orm asked the Watchtower.

Red Tornado spoke up, "Not yet. I have examined the zeta tube's energy console and have found that a virus was implanted into the tube's systems. The virus was very specifically programmed to only wipe zeta tube functions. It was also programmed to self-destruct, which I have successfully disrupted, but it was most certainly a maneuver to at least slow us down, if not destroy our only way back to Earth. It was a very thoroughly planned attack."

Batman stepped in with a hypothesis of his own. "Scarecrow cannot have been working alone to achieve this. The zeta virus and the zombie outbreak happened together and must have been planned together. Programming a virus with this complexity is not Scarecrow's M.O., and that means he's working with someone. Artemis, Miss Martian, and Superboy; make sure you ask him about this when you interrogate him. I also want a full report from Kid Flash when he finds Robin. I believe everything that is to be said for now has been said. We'll keep the comms open for as long as the backup power is on. I still don't believe regular power is on, so cell phones and televisions won't be working for us to contact you. Keep your comms on and with you at all times."

All the Team members agreed to this before Batman's concluding instructions, "No matter what happens, no matter which of you make it out of this and which ones don't make it, don't forget what you're doing for mankind today. The fate of the world is resting on your shoulders. This is what you've been training for, preparing for. Everything you've learned up until now you will need to accomplish what needs to be done today. I have faith in every one of you. Live up to your names now. No unnecessary risks and remember to protect each other. Am I understood?"

There was a solemn agreement from all of them before they signed off.

* * *

Wally looked frantically all around the station. He was at the end of his wits having heard about Robin's being shot... and _last night_. Who knew what condition he could be in now?

It was when he saw a small lump next to a bench, lying in the bloodstained snow, that his heart truly leapt to his throat. The bird was delirious, no doubt about it.

"Mami! Tati! Te rog, nu-mi face rău! Te rog, oprește-te! Nu!"

His parents were attacking him in his sleep.

Wally gulped. What was he going to do if dreams became reality?

* * *

**Longest chapter yet! I hope you enjoyed this. Please leave comments or questions, and have a very nice Valentine's Day :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again!**

**Despite the emergency that was my bedroom ceiling dripping water everywhere and then cracking and falling down, and then the drama that is drama club which is getting pretty intense as show week is two weeks away, I managed to write this chapter which I have been excited for since i started this story, so...**

**Those of you reading this are probably very anxious to find out what's going to happen with KF and Rob, huh? In this installment, you will find out...**

* * *

The pulse was weak but existent. Wally frantically pulled Robin out of the snow and turned his body to see the bullet wound, a flow of blood still trickling out. Wally applied pressure to it, gently nudging Dick, asking him to wake up with a more and more desperate voice. But the ebony kept on mumbling incomprehensibly in his feverish dream state. Wally was almost too lost in his panic to hear a strange noise moving closer. He turned and saw what caused him to blink a few times- a train moving down the tracks headed for the station.

Wally didn't bother asking himself why on Earth a train was coming into the station mid-zombie apocalypse, but immediately decided he needed to find out who was on that train and whether they had any emergency medical supplies or not. So he did the smart thing and jumped straight onto the tracks, waving his am up and down like a lunatic as an oncoming train sped towards him.

With barely ten yards in between the speedster and the locomotive, the train finally screeched to a stop. An angry old man came stomping out and walked right up to Wally before yelling in his face, "Whaddaya think you're doin', ya stupid kid?!" "I need your help to save my friend," KF explained gesturing towards the Boy Wonder who lay bleeding in the snow. "Nu ... nu-mi face rău!"["No...don't hurt me!"] he mumbled. The man's jaw dropped. "You want_ me_ to save _Robin_? You're a hero, and I ain't a doctor. Why don't_ you_ do it?"

"_Because I don't have any medical supplies!_" the speedster yelled. The old man looked him up and down before quietly agreeing, "Alright. Come with me." Wally contained his sigh of relief as he picked up the little bird bridal style and carried him into the first passenger car. Laying him across a row of seats, he fondly brushed away black strands of hair from the younger boy's hot and sticky forehead and watched the man walk into the engine room and return with a first aid kit. The man handed it to KF, who eagerly dived into it and began to patch up his friend's shoulder as well as he could. Feeling the old man's eyes on him, the speedster awkwardly tried to start a conversation.

"So why are you driving around a train alone in the middle of the apocalypse?" he winced at the hoarseness of his voice, realizing that a casual conversation was probably impossible at this point. "Tryin' to get to Happy Harbor," the man mumbled, eyes glued to Robin's face. "My family's there." "That's where we're going!" Kid Flash exploded. The man's eyes darted up to scan the speedster for a moment before returning as if in a trance to Robin quickly. "Need a lift?" he offered.

Wally was wholeheartedly ready to say yes, until he remembered leaving Artemis and the bioship behind. "Uh, well..." He gazed at the old guy, who was intently watching Robin with a mix of fascination and concern on his face, and decided it would be best to go with the guy. He was just trying to get to his family in Happy Harbor, he would need help. And helping civilians was Wally's job, zombie apocalypse or not. "...Okay."The man looked up and nodded before running off to the engine room again, scratching his beard and mumbling something about water to bring down the fever.

Wally sighed and slumped into a seat next to Dick, repositioning him and laying the boy's head in his lap. The speedster ran his fingers through his best friend's hair, unclipping his cape and peeling off his mask to make him more comfortable, and allowed his eyes to droop shut for a moment. A beep in his ear startled him awake and, muttering under his breath all the terrible things he was going to do to whoever had woken him from his well-deserved rest, he answered his comm. Artemis' voice shocked him into realization that- yes, his comm was actually working. "Wally? Did you find him? KF? Are you there?!" he sat up straight and stuttered an answer, "Y-yeah, yes! It's me, I'm here and I-uh, well yeah, I found him, but-"

"You found Robin?" the urgency in Batman's voice made Wally gulp involuntarily but he replied honestly, "I did. And we're on a train to Happy Harbor." Although he frowned to himself at the fact that they weren't even moving yet. How long was he asleep, anyway? He shook his head and talked again before Batman could interrupt, "Just one question, how is this thing working again?!"

Artemis explained for him, for once without a sarcastic tone, "The Watchtower fixed the comms. They haven't gotten zeta beams up yet, but they just decided to send Superman down." A surge of hope rushed into Wally at these words; the first true hope he'd felt since before this disaster began. _Superman is coming_, he repeated to himself, _Superman is coming..._ Artemis went on, "M'gann and Kaldur were on this frequency, too, in Atlantis, but they already signed off. Aqualad is going to assemble an army and bring them here. Megan's heading back to the Cave where Conner is and I'm on my way to meet up with them. I, uh, kinda just took the bioship. Is that okay? I mean, you're already on a train, you should be fine," She didn't wait for an answer before continuing, "Also, I just helped that group of civilians we were with get to Arkham, and the police force is also headed that way. I have also captured Scarecrow, who caused all this apparently, and he's coming to Happy Harbor, too, so we can question him. There, I think you're all updated now."

KF didn't get a chance to speak before Batman ordered, "Now you need to update us." He was saved from the impatient Bat by a background noise, and then the sudden desperate voice of the Flash, "Kid? Wally, is that you?" "UNCLE BARRY!" the speedster was so excited that he shot up from his seat and then immediately regretted it when he heard the thump of Dick's body hitting the ground and the low moan that followed it. He hurriedly pulled his friend back onto the seat and went back to the conversation. "Are you alright, Kid?" Barry asked him. "Yes, yeah, I-I am, but...Mom and Dad," he tried to blink away the tears that sprang up in his green eyes, and failed. "Th-they didn't make it."

There was silence on the other end before Barry softly said, "I am so sorry, Wally. I...I'm just so sad to hear that, kid. It's you and me now, Wally. Iris is gone, too..." While both speedsters tried to collect themselves, Artemis addressed Wally in a tone gentler than any he'd ever heard her use before, "Wally, is that why you were so quiet?" He barely choked out a "yes" before giving in and allowing the tears to flow. There was a loud inhale from Artemis before, again very softly, she spoke. "I had no idea. I shouldn't have gotten angry, I...I'm really sorry, Wally..." Wally sniffled a bit before quietly reassuring her, "It's okay. It wasn't your fault. I was sick of trying to pretend it never happened. You're forgiven." Satisfied, Artemis said a hasty goodbye and turned off her comm.

Batman's low murmur almost hesitantly shattered the silence next. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Kid Flash, but please allow me to ask one question; is Robin alright?" Wally gulped and looked at the boy resting on the seat next to him. "Ummm..." "Can I at least talk to him?" Next to the speedster, Dick stirred and groaned again. Blue eyes, glazed over with confusion and tears, opened slowly and cautiously before darting around in remembrance and then squeezing shut as the pain registered. Wally leaned towards him and whispered gently, "Bruce wants to talk to you, Dickie. Can you speak with him just a minute?"

Robin's eyes opened again and he nodded, quietly taking the comm from his friend. "D-Dad?" he choked out hoarsely, wincing at the scratchiness in his throat. _Must have been screaming in my sleep again_, he thought reluctantly. Bruce's _over_whelming emotions poured into his voice as he answered, "I'm here, Dickie. Thank God you're alive...I'm right here, chum, everything's okay." On the Watchtower several other heroes stood around quietly, marvelling at the sincere care expressed in the softness of his voice. It was an amazing thing to hear from one who was known to never express emotion in costume. Bruce ignored the shocked stares at his back and quietly asked, "Where were you shot?"

His heart leapt to his throat at the barely concealed pain in the gasping voice of the boy- _his_ boy. "Got hit...i-in the...sh-shoulder. It...it w-was...last night. I got out...m-made it to the, uh...t-train station, I think...but I...I don't know how l-long I w-was...asleep..." "Is the bullet still in?" his mentor calmly asked. "Uh-huh..." Robin whispered.

Bruce made a noise on the other end before asking, "Is Wally still with you?" Dick swallowed his surprise at hearing his guardian use their real names in costume and struggled to position his head where he could see the speedster watching him anxiously. He forced a weak smile and said, "Yeah." "Alright," Batman began, a plan forming in his mind. "He needs to get the bullet out, Dick, and slow the bleeding. You've probably already lost a lot of blood without putting pressure on the wound, and I know it's going to hurt, but I'm right here talking to you, okay?"

Robin choked out a sound of supposedly consent and looked nervously at Wally, who, having overheard the task he was being put up to, took a deep breath and placed his hand over Dick's. At that moment, the old man walked back into the car carrying a towel, a glass of water and a blanket. Wally hurriedly pressed Robin's mask back onto his face and took the blanket from the man, tucking it carefully around his friend before removing the already soaked bandages on the injured shoulder and rummaging again through the First Aid kit. Saying nothing, the man placed the wet towel on the boy's hot forehead and set the cup down next to him. "I need to get the bullet out, and I need you to hold him down," Wally explained to the train operator, who nodded his consent and pinned Robin to the seat.

The boy whimpered as Wally pulled the tweezers out of the kit and moved towards him. "Shh," he whispered gently as tears slid down both his own face and the face of his patient. "It's okay..." Bruce was in the Watchtower listening and quietly comforting his ward in what little Romanian words of comfort he knew, nervous about the medical procedure happening on the planet below. He heard sniffling and whimpering and cries that grew louder and louder until a scream of agony ripped from his boy's throat. Fuming, Batman shot up and stalked over to the wall, slamming his fist into it and creating a sizeable crater. "Shh," he tried to calm his gasping ward. "I'm right here, Dickie. Everything's going to be just fine...calm down..."

"I can't!" Robin sobbed. "H-hurtssss..." He squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to block the pain by falling into a rhythm of breathing. In...out...in...out...

Suddenly there was more pressure on his arm, and, through his grunts of pain and squirming in the grasp of the old stranger, he heard Wally's relieved sigh, "It's out." The pressure continued and Dick's vision swam. He held back the screams as best he could, trying to understand what the voices above him were saying. Something about rebandaging and a six hour ride to Happy Harbor. Then he heard footsteps moving away and heard the passenger car door shut. The train suddenly lurched forward and began steadily puffing on its way. Dick opened his eyes to find his mask off again and Wally solemnly handing him a cup of water. He took it weakly, frowning at the seriousness of Wally's face. It didn't belong there. Wally would normally at least attempt a smile in situations like these.

That meant something big must be wrong. Wally noticed Dick's unhappy stare and pulled the boy close, rubbing his back and whispering sweet nonsense words of comfort. Bruce was still talking to him through the comm link, so Dick let the soft voices lull him to sleep, hearing the words of his father just before drifting off, "Everything's gonna be okay, Dickie..."

* * *

"_Can you make a cure?_" Conner growled. Scarecrow smiled at him dryly and chuckled. Superboy slammed his fist onto the counter and yelled at him, "_Quit playing games! Tell me!_"

"Of course I can make a cure," Crane rolled his eyes and stopped for a dramatic pause, looking from Artemis' face to M'gann's to Conner's, as they stared at him in anticipation. "But I need ingredients. Tianeptine, specifically. If I can synthesize a cure, it will override the current drug in their systems. Those infected who are already dead will return to their graves. Those who were alive when they were infected will recover, as if from a bad hangover, and go about their normal lives. There's a contact of mine in Mexico. He will give you the required dosage without _too much_ hassle, as long as you drop my name. It's going to take some time, you realize."

"Yes," Artemis smirked confidently. "But you _will_ get it done as soon as possible. You know you don't _really_ want zombies running rampant- not when your life is in danger, too. From what Gordon says, this whole thing was an accident anyways. I'm taking you to the med lab. We'll see if there's any equipment for you to use. Supey, Miss M; take the bioship to Mexico. I'll radio when I get an exact location out of him." Miss Martian and Superboy nodded and ran off towards the hangar. Artemis fought the urge to smile at the fact that they were listening to her, in favor of keeping an intimidating expression on her face.

"Come on," she hissed, yanking Crane to his feet. "You have a cure to make."

* * *

The Commissioner scanned the room one last time. In the past forty-five minutes or so, his police patrols had found quite a few straggling civilians and had herded them into Arkham along with the original group. He had only lost three men so far since escaping the PD, and he had even managed to collect the gang members in the school's gym. He was feeling rather accomplished.

He wanted to go back to where he had been at the start of the apocalypse. The road he had been on when the zeds attacked and dragged off Barbara. No doubt, he was one of them now. But Jim was a policeman, and he needed to investigate. He knew he was only distracting himself, but he _needed_ this. He pulled up a police car near the wreck of his old one and stared at it sadly for a moment.

He was deep in thought about Barbara, about Batman, and about Crane. So deep in thought that he almost didn't notice a car screech around the corner and then suddenly stop. He jumped out of his cruiser in surprise and began walking towards the Cadillac in the middle of the road just as a woman in a lab coat and a nicely dressed old man emerged. Gordon immediately recognized both of them as he met them in the middle of the street, halfway between their respective vehicles. The woman was Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who ran the free clinic on the other side of town. She looked stressed and tired, still dressed in medical scrubs and brushing stands of hair from her loose bun out of her face.

The man Gordon recognized as well. This was Alfred Pennyworth, ever faithful butler to billionaire Bruce Wayne, and in a similar state of exhaustion as Leslie. Alfred was always there for Bruce and Dick, and Gordon could imagine what the butler was here to ask him about.

"Commissioner! Thank goodness, it's you. Have you heard anything from Batman?" Leslie asked. Jim shook his head. "No, but there's a team of sidekicks, they've been helping out with getting survivors to our refuge in Arkham. Artemis just left in some sort of alien spaceship with Scarecrow... Um, have you heard from Bruce or Dick? I was wondering if he got home safely from school, seeing as you were volunteering in the clinic and I'm assuming Bruce was at work."

Alfred cleared his throat and answered, "Master Bruce is on a business trip overseas, although he has contacted me with word that he is unharmed and in a safehouse." This story was somewhat true. Bruce _was_ elsewhere. Though not overseas, he was in space. Alfred had not been able to contact the Watchtower, but he knew that his charge was safe as long as he wasn't on Earth. Dick's whereabouts, however, were still unknown and, of course, he was not answering his comm either.

Alfred knew that he had no reason to lie about where Dick was. The Commissioner might be able to help them, and if not, they could at least help the Commissioner. He decided to tell the truth. "I am afraid I do not know where Master Richard is. I had arranged for him to ride the bus home, because, as you said, today was my day to volunteer at Dr. Thompkins' clinic. I did not hear from him at all yesterday when news of what was happening reached us. Dr. Thompkins persuaded me to stay at the clinic overnight and not attempt to go home. When I persuaded her to come with me to the Manor this morning, I did not find him there. I cannot reach the school administration, but judging from the time that this apocalypse occurred at, I assume that he had gotten on the bus and went missing somehow in between the time he boarded and the time he should have gotten off at the Manor..."

Gordon sighed. Poor scrawny little kid like Dick, he was probably already a zombie. "I'm sorry," he offered quietly. Alfred nodded solemnly and for a moment it was silent before Leslie asked, "What about Barbara? Did she make it home from school?" Gordon shook his head in shame and grief. "Would you excuse us for a moment, sir?" Alfred politely asked before walking with Leslie back to the car and appearing to casually collect their things from it.

"He mentioned that the Team was helping him. Perhaps Robin is among them?" Alfred asked. "I hope," Leslie sighed. "With Batman and the League in space, the Team is on their own. Don't you think the League would've come to Earth by now if they could? There must be something wrong with their teleportation system." "Hmm," Alfred thought. "I will continue to attempt contacting Robin. In the meantime, it would be best if we go to this refuge and assist in any way we can." Leslie nodded and grabbed her purse from the car before the two walked back out and over to Gordon.

"We'd like to help," Leslie announced. Gordon shrugged and motioned to his car. "Go ahead in. We're going to Arkham."

* * *

There was a nice, gentle humming, and the bus swayed a little bit, rocking him like baby. His eyes were shut, his mind wandering. A sudden lurch as the bus turned the corner, and Dick's head smacked the window, jerking him awake. He blinked a few times to clear his head and looked around. This was his stop.

He collected his things and stepped onto the sidewalk, watching the bus drive away. When he suddenly felt something damp in his hair, he looked up into the grey sky to see white flurries gently sprinkling down around him. He smiled and blinked a few out of his eyelashes before trudging to the Manor through the snow. Seeing a person in the distance shovelling the snow in front of the front gates, he squinted at them for a moment before realizing it was Bruce. His walk suddenly became a run and he easily covered the distance to the gate and tackled his guardian in a hug before looking up at the surprised man with a wide smile on his face.

"Hey, chum," Bruce greeted, leaning down to pick up the dropped shovel. "Didn't see you coming." "Yeah, right!" Dick laughed. "Sure you didn't. Why are you here? I thought the League had a meeting?" The man shrugged and placed an arm around Dick's shoulders as they walked up the stairs and stopped in front of the door. "We finished early."

Dick grinned. He could see it in Bruce's eyes. The League may have finished early, but Bruce was out here because he wanted to be there and greet Dick when he came home from school. Bruce was acting so strange, so fatherly...Dick loved it! The door opened to reveal Alfred, who immediately held up a hand before the two outside could enter. "Clean the snow off your boots first, boys, and Master Bruce, do leave the shovel outside." Both of them rolled their eyes at the typical Alfred-ness of it all but complied. "I'm not a boy," Bruce mumbled, with a sideways glance at Dick who was now giggling at him.

When they came inside, the fireplace in the living room was lit and roaring and two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate supporting a mountain of fresh and warmly baked chocolate chip cookies waited on the kitchen table for them. Dick gave a loud whoop and made a beeline for the food, collecting it and bolting into the living room, sinking into one of the large leather chairs positioned in front of the fireplace. Bruce followed chuckling and with the warning of, "Save some for me, son!"

Dick almost choked on the cookie in his mouth. Son? Bruce _never_ called him that. So he was Bruce's son now? What brought this on? Bruce seemed to be in such a good mood today. It was so rare, but when it happened, like today, it was always such a heartwarming experience. The boy grinned. He was going to milk this as much as possible. Son? Bruce didn't normally go _that_ far. This was a good sign, Dick decided.

Bruce and Dick both settled into their seats consuming cookie after cookie. Dick sighed as he bit into the gooey goodness of it. While he marvelled at the impeccable taste of such a simple little thing, he smiled, lost in thought about how unusually perfect today was. Any other day would've gone differently. Dick would've gotten off the bus and trudged home as usual, walking in and having a snack from Alfred perhaps and then staying alone in his room until dinner, during which Bruce would be extremely awkward. Maybe he would let him hang out with the Team, maybe not. Either way, the only quality time the would have would be patrol, and that wasn't anyone's typical quality time.

"So, Dick, how was school?" Bruce asked casually. Dick opened his mouth to speak, but then thought back to the school day and closed it again. How was school? He couldn't quite remember. He mentally shrugged it off. It was probably not too bad. "Pretty good," he answered, taking another cookie and savoring it.

Dick looked over at Alfred who stood silently in the corner of the room, waiting should either of them need anything and felt a sudden confusion bubble up inside him. He decided to act upon it this time. "Aren't you supposed to be at the clinic, Alfie?" he asked after swallowing. Alfred shrugged and smiled at the boy. "We finished early." Dick's brow furrowed at this response. That's exactly what Bruce said about the League meeting. Well, that didn't make sense. Alfred never finished early, or late, for that matter. Always exactly on time, and Bruce as well (for the most part). Today was looking more like Dick's perfect fantasy world than real life. He looked back down at the cookie in his hands. It really was amazing. Just like always. Dick smiled.

Today was perfect.

Then, suddenly, the fire went out, as if someone had suddenly dumped water on it. Dick cocked his head to the side in confusion and then looked up at the source of the strange clinking noise coming from the ceiling. The chandelier was swaying from side to side like it was on a ship in stormy waters. While Alfred and Bruce sat remained still and calm as if nothing was happening, Dick stood up in surprise and watched the trembling glass pieces banging against each other, louder and louder. Then it exploded.

Robin's eyes flew open. His shoulder was throbbing and his vision blurred. He took in his surroundings quickly and realized he had been dreaming. the train shuddered and teetered dangerously while the lights on the ceiling blinked, buzzing on and off. Wally's face popped up in his peripherals, anxious and panicked. "Wha...ss...going on?" Dick asked.

Wally turned his head around wildly to face Dick, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "The train...i-it's _going off the tracks!_"

The crash jolted both of them out of their seats, Robin crying out in pain as he landed on his wounded shoulder. Wally stumbled to his feet and hauled his friend up by his uninjured shoulder, fighting gravity to the nearest window to see what they had hit. What he saw made hi shudder.

There were zombies attacking the train, and the driver was now one of them.

* * *

**Yay! Alfred and Leslie are alive! Here's the KF and Robin escape chapter I know at least I was craving for. Sorry for any mistakes, I'm normally pretty good about that, but it's kinda late and I think this daylight savings thing is messing with my brain. Not to mention the fact that I don't have a beta reader, soooo... Yeah. Thanks for reading, as always. Please tell me if you enjoyed it, have any constructive criticisms, have any questions, yeah, pretty much anything you have to say, say it. Even if you don't have something to say, say something... yeah, I'll take anything. Hope you enjoyed this. Sorry I kinda killed off the old guy :(. But at least Robin is alive, so I think that equals it out. Things are just now getting interesting, muahahahaha...**

**Have a good day :)**

**BW10**

**P.S. (Does anyone else notice the fact that I somehow manage to make each chapter at least a little bit longer than the last one? I didn't even plan it, it's just so cool! ;))**


	8. Chapter 8

On the Gulf of Mexico it was just fifteen minutes after eleven, while in Happy Harbor it was just after nine. And if there was anything other than monkeys and father-son issues with Superman that made Superboy grumpy, it was losing a few hours just to threaten some drug lord into giving them enough drugs to engineer a de-zombification cure. Then when he and M'gann had to fly around another half hour while waiting for some coordinates, he started getting hungry. His stomach let out monstrous growls, and the first one surprised M'gann so much that she almost lost control of the bioship. That put him in a bad mood.

Artemis radioed in the location (which Superboy hope she got by strangling Scarecrow until he talked, although he doubted it) and by the time they got there, some men had spotted them. Miss Martian had to carefully maneuver the bioship onto a nearby rooftop, and then encourage Superboy to come and finish the mission quickly when all he wanted to do was sulk around the bioship. His mood was rapidly declining. The Mexicans were all freaking out at the aliens walking down the street but when M'gann (by using hand gestures and repeating "Scarecrow" multiple times because she didn't speak Spanish) persuaded the Mexican guys who responded to "Bane" that they came in peace, they were brought in to see the boss man. As it turned out "boss man" wasn't Bane, and only the underling in charge of the actual trades but he _was_ tall, strong, possessed an expensive leather jacket, and had a confident smirk on his face. Yes, this man was very full of himself. Conner immediately despised him.

M'gann again attempted to sign to him what she was asking for, and the head honcho laughed and shook his head, not seeming very inclined to even listen to her. Conner's mood plummeted again. The man turned to his comrades and snickered in Spanish that "little green girl thinks she can ask for a full shipment from us? Why don't we teach her who's in charge here?" That was the final straw. He had just insulted M'gann. He was going to pay. Everyone else in the room jumped as his fist slammed on the table in anger and he bellowed, to everyone's surprise in Spanish, "Give us the drugs _now _or I'll rip your arms off!"

M'gann's hand gently touched his bicep, trying to pull him back because she wasn't sure what he was planning on doing if he was yelling at them in Spanish. He shook her off and ripped his jacket off, proudly showing to all the S shield on his chest and then proceeding to demonstrate his abilities by grabbing a nearby chair, crushing it to the size of a soup can, and then smashing it flat under his foot. He allowed a small smirk to cross his otherwise menacing features while the Mexican dealers trembled in their socks and went about stuttering apologies and racing around collecting the shipment. "Now are we willing to negotiate?" Conner asked, again in Spanish, glaring at boss-man over crossed arms.

The man frantically nodded and stammered in the fastest Spanish Conner had heard, "You can take it all! No need to pay! Go and tell Scarecrow we're sorry! Go!" And then he took off and locked himself in his office, waiting a moment before peeking at them through the blinds. "Wish I could be there when he tells Bane he just _gave_ Scarecrow's shipment to a couple of Justice League-affiliated teenagers," Conner mumbled. M'gann let out a giggle and levitated the crates into the bioship while Conner kept an eye on the lackeys who had packed it up.

In under five minutes Superboy and Miss Martian were on their way for Happy Harbor, and the mood was finally getting better. Megan suddenly burst out laughing. "What is it?" Conner asked, confused. She chuckled a bit more, but replied, "Oh, nothing. You just scared them so much, you even scared me! Ha ha, and when did you learn Spanish? What did you even tell them?" He snorted. "I said I would rip their arms off if they didn't cooperate." M'gann suddenly stopped laughing and her face grew suspicious while he continued, "Cadmus programmed Spanish into me. I've used it before- to understand Bane on that Santa Prisca mission..." Megan ignored the last half of his statement and asked tentatively, "Were you really going to do that if they didn't cooperate? Rip their arms off?"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "No! No, of course not. I was just threatening them. They were scared enough by knowing who I am that I didn't even have to knock them out." Miss M smiled, nodded, and went back to concentrating on the bioship. Conner leaned back in his seat. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

* * *

There was no way Wally was getting used to seeing sweet and innocent people turn into demented monsters trying to infect other sweet and innocent people. _He was just an old man trying to help us, _he thought angrily. _A man with a family and a life in Happy Harbor. A clever man, even. Clever enough to steal a train, anyway... _

The train had stopped, the lights burned out, Wally and Robin were picking themselves up off the floor, and worst of all, there were zombies practically attached to the windows, gnashing their teeth and frothing at the mouth. Two sets of eyes simultaneously widened as a hand suddenly shot through the window, shattering it and raining down glass on the carpeted floor. With a squeak, Wally dashed over to the emergency exit between cars and jammed his hand into it, attempting to pull it open. _Geez, this is really outdated train if tthere isn't a button I can press to open this, _the speedster thought, frustrated, as Robin joined him and jabbed an explosive birdarang into the door, yanking Wally back and taking cover.

With a creak, the door exploded and the boys waited for the smoke to clear before sprinting out the exit and jumping to the ground, collapsing in the snow outside of the train with relief. "Okay," Wally panted. "The zeds are all on the other side of the train. We can disappear into the woods before they get over here, right?" Robin nodded as he tried to slow his breathing. "I left my cape in there..." He mumbled, shivering. "Would be nice to have now." Wally sighed and stood up. "We were on that train for only a few hours. We're somewhere between Gotham and Happy Harbor. I guess we should follow the train tracks to the next station and, I dunno, steal a car or something...?"

Dick shrugged. All laws no longer applied at this point. This was a fight for survival now. He placed his mask back on, forgetting about his shoulder and wincing at the sudden pain of lifting it. He shakily got to his feet and froze at Wally's expression. The speedster's mouth was agape and he gazed in shock and fear at something over his friend's shoulder in the woods. "Walls?" The latter asked, concerned. Wally didn't reply. Robin grew worried. "What's wrong, Wally? Is there something-" he started to turn around to see what the redhead was staring at when Wally suddenly shouted, "STOP! Don't. Turn. Around." Robin's heart rate picked up in fear.

"What's-" "Don't do it! Just...stay where you are..." Robin swallowed his worry and remained still, listening intently to the soft sound of snow crunching behind him. Someone- or something- was moving towards him, and Wally was terrified of it. He tried to conceal a whimper but he knew KF heard it. Wally shook his head and blinked to try and clear it. He couldn't believe his eyes. Why of all things did it have to be them. Even dead, they looked exactly like the pictures Dick had shown him, old photographs worn from love and tears and years of staring at them with fondness and pain in the middle of the night. There stood John and Mary Grayson.

* * *

Everyone up on the Watchtower was restless. No one had gotten much sleep, but every now and then a hero would be discovered, asleep on a couch or a chair. Red Tornado looked up to face Batman and said, "I know that this system can be fixed, and I would do so if possible, but the weather conditions on Earth are preventing the zeta beams from going back online. Until the snowstorm covering northeast America passes, I will not be able to turn it on."

Batman growled to himself for a few seconds before saying, "So this snowstorm is causing zeta tubes to shut off _everywhere?!"_ "Yes," Tornado answered calmly. "I believe to have this effect the zeta technology must have been tampered with. Someone is trying to make it extra difficult for the League to return to Earth. Do you have any idea who?" The Bat grumbled under his breath and stalked over to the holo-computers, calling Superman.

"Yes?" The Kryptonian answered. "I'm kind of flying through the atmosphere at the moment, you're a little patchy." "I'll be quick," Batman barked. "When you get there head straight for Luthor and find out what he did to the zeta beams." "But I thought the kids were the priority?" Superman asked. Batman tried to emotionally detach himself from the situation as much as he could and quickly blurted out Superman's instructions before he changed his mind. "The sooner we get these tubes working the sooner we can get back and help them. Understood?" Superman sighed, "Alright, if you're sure. On my way. Superman out."

Batman stared at the controls for a second longer before setting out a comm call to Earth. Artemis, Aqualad, and the bioship picked up almost immediately. Even after waiting a few seconds, however, nothing came from Wally or Robin. M'gann voiced everyone's thoughts, "Why aren't Kid Flash and Robin picking up?" Artemis answered before Batman could, "Well last time they said they were on their way here. I can trace their signals, though. Wally's comm is still online. How close are you? Did you get what we need?" "We've got it," Conner reassured her. "And we're booking it back to Mt. Justice but we need more time. Is Scarecrow being any trouble?" "No," Artemis sighed. "Not really, although his jokes are terrible. How is it going in Atlantis?"

Aqualad cleared his throat. "We have mobilized a very large force of the King's men alone. My Queen has just put out an edict requesting volunteer enlistment, because the military alone will not be enough. We have quite the store of weapons however, which I am sure you are happy to learn. As soon as Scarecrow manufactures a cure, we will be ready to return the people to their regular selves and the undead to their graves." "Thank you, Aqualad," Batman put in. "None of you have spoken with Robin or Kid Flash since Artemis and I contacted them, correct?" Everyone voiced their affirmation. "Artemis, you may track Kid Flash's comm and go after them."

There was a second's pause before she asked, more hesitant than she was known for, "How? M'gann and Superboy have the bioship..."

"Come up with something. Steal a plane if you have to. Batman out." With nothing from Robin and no other updates, he shut off the call and left.

Artemis swallowed on the other end and faced Scarecrow, who was smiling at her with an annoyingly mischievous look in his eye. Artemis' frown deepened at him, although in her mind she was occupied with mulling over Batman's words. 'Steal a plane if you have to'... He probably didn't mean it literally, but it did lead her to think about Roy.

Roy, whom she had watched crawling out of a stolen plane. Roy, whom she had witnessed being bitten and changed moments later. Roy, whose loss she felt guilty for. Roy, who she may need to confront when she leaves her safe haven. Roy, whose stolen plane may be the ticket to finding Wally and Robin. She quickly grabbed her prisoner by the collar and dragged him towards the back door.

"Alright, Crane," she growled in his ear. "I'm going on a little trip. You're staying here to wait for the others, and if you try anything, I will open those doors and zombies will come running in to take your head off." She held up a remote control. He tried and failed to keep the shock off of his face. "And before you ask, I do have cameras on you. Up for it?" She smirked.

* * *

When Alfred and Leslie finally found a moment to themselves in the hustle and bustle of 'Arkham Refuge' business, it was immediately used to contact Batman. "It's the strangest thing," the butler murmured to himself. "I've been trying since yesterday to bring comm signals back up, and now they suddenly are. It must be the Watchtower's doing. Batman? This is Agent A."

Batman's voice sounded from the earpiece, "Don't worry Alfred, this is my secure line. Are you alright?" "Quite alright, sir. Dr. Thompkins and I remained at the clinic throughout the evening and overnight. We are now in the Arkham Refuge. Commissioner Gordon is in the other room. We think we can help survivors here and be of some service. But most importantly at the moment- I checked the Manor before we arrived here, and Master Richard has not returned since school yesterday. Have you heard anything from him? I am prepared to search for him if need be-"

Bruce cut him off, "Yes, I know where he is, Alfred. He and Kid Flash are on a train to Happy Harbor, where Artemis is holding Scarecrow in custody. Aqualad is leading Atlantean troops to the surface and bringing as many weapons as possible, so that when Superboy and Miss Martian return from Mexico with the drug needed for Crane to synthesize a cure, it may be loaded into these weapons and used to restore the living population to normal and return the previously dead population to the grave. We have a plan in motion, and I believe it is best if you and Leslie do continue to aid the police at this refuge."

"Very well then, sir. You have spoken with Robin, correct? How is he doing? The Batmobile was missing when I checked, so I assumed he had taken it. Why on Earth is he on a train?"

"..."

"Master Bruce, answer me this instant."

A sigh from Bruce's end before he spilled. "When the survivors were hiding in Gotham Academy with the gang, Robin was captured, I'm assuming from the Batmobile, and shot in the shoulder. That is when Artemis moved the people to Arkham and freed the police, and Kid Flash found Robin, got him on a train to Happy Harbor, and removed the bullet. It is infected, but was successfully removed. That is the last I heard. He sounded somewhat delirious when I spoke with him, but I think his health is improving. Artemis went after them, tracking Kid Flash's comm signal because they didn't pick up my recent call, but I...hope there's no reason for alarm."

"I just got word that Superman has arrived somewhere above the Pacific ocean. He's on his way to Metropolis to find Lex Luthor and get a way to fix the zeta tubes so the League can come to Earth. As long as it's broken the zeta tubes won't go back online, but we will continue to send down League members at the safest rate possible."

Alfred took in a breath. "Thank you."

"Batman out." Bruce was gone before Alfred could press for any more answers. The butler sighed and turned to look at Leslie. The doctor nodded. She had overheard the whole thing. The woman suddenly forced a smile and placed her hand on Alfred's shoulder. "Well," she said hopefully. "Let's get to work like he said." Alfred nodded his agreement. "Masters Richard and Wallace will have to make it on their own."

* * *

Masters Richard and Wallace weren't making it too well on their own at the moment. Robin was suppressing every instinct to turn around before he got bitten, and Wally was frozen in place, staring at the undead John and Mary Grayson. When he regained command over his vocal cords, he instructed Dick (without taking his eyes off of the couple), "Just...walk towards me- slowly!"

Trying to hide the tremble of his body with each step, Dick reached Wally and grasped his shoulders, hissing, "Let me turn around! Let me see what's wrong!" Wally finally tore his eyes from the Graysons' approaching figures and directed his gaze at his best friend's pleading face. "No," he said firmly. "I want you to run, as far and fast as you can. Don't look back, okay! I need to take care of this."

"No!" Dick screeched, suddenly pulling away and whipping around. "No! No! No!" He melted into sobs and fell to his knees when he saw his parents walking towards him. Wally reached for him to pull him away, to keep him from seeing, but a rough hand that smelled of rotting flesh clasped his shoulder and spun him around. He was greeted with the disturbingly ugly face of the train operator. He wrenched himself out of the man's grip and, seeing the multitude of zombies crawling over the train, launched into a super fast barrage of punches.

Robin was still in a ball on the ground and while Wally did his best to avoid being bitten by the old man, the Graysons were approaching their son. Out of the corner of his eye, Wally saw Mary draw a long hunting knife above her head and over Dick's prone form. "No!" He screamed, seconds before the old man tackled him to the ground. "Dick...move!" He yelled to his friend while he struggled to avoid the man's mouth as it dived down repeatedly, trying to grip its teeth on flesh and dripping saliva all over the speedster's face.

Dick looked up slowly to see his own mother lifting a knife to kill him. Knowing this was his fate, he resigned himself to it, bowing his head and thinking only of Bruce. Wally punched the old man in the face and squirmed his way out from under him, crawling over to Dick and yanking him out of the way just as the knife came down and lodged itself in the cold ground. With a fierce cry, the speedster kicked Mary in the face, causing her to reel back in pain.

John growled in frustration and yanked Dick up by the arm, virtually ignoring the sharp yell of pain from his own son. Wally tried to get up and take Dick back, but was grabbed from behind by a new zombie bent on sinking its teeth into his ankle. He looked up in desperation at John who was dragging Dick into the woods and Mary who pulled up the knife from the ground and followed them. Wally yelled curses at them angrily and kicked the zombie attacking him in the face. In seven seconds flat the rest of the zeds were motionless on the ground.

Wally looked towards the woods. _I'm coming Dick, I'm coming. Hold on for me!_

* * *

Artemis looked around one more time, just to be safe, before leaving the tree she sat in. A deep breath to convince herself she could get to the beach without any run-ins, and she hopped out of the tree, her boots hitting the ground as lightly as possible. She moved quickly with her eyes and ears alert, in the direction of the beach. _There's not a single thing moving out here. Why is it so quiet? There were zombies out here barely a few hours ago. Did they...give up?_

In the back of her mind, she knew there was no way that could be true, but if it meant there were no zombies attacking her from all sides while she made her way to the plane, she would gladly believe it. Reaching the top of a hill, she pushed aside leaves from a bush to see a sharp drop to the beach below, where she could see Roy's plane waiting for her uunguarded and seemingly untouched. Her mind went back to last night when she had seen the zeds take him. She turned a little to her left and located the tree she had watched from. She sighed in remembrance. She prayed to whoever was listening that she wouldn't have to face him again.

In her distraction she almost missed the sound of a twig cracking behind her. She immediately whipped around and aimed her already nocked arrow at the trees in the direction where the sound came from. Zombie-Roy's expression twisted into a smile as he slowly and calmly drew a sharp arrow, nocked it onto his bow, and raised it to line up with Artemis' head.

"Uh oh," she whispered to herself. Both stared at each other for a few more seconds before, still with that wicked smile plastered to his discolored face, Roy released his arrow. Artemis ducked sharply to the right and the arrow went whizzing past her head. She used that second to release hers. Roy looked up, mid-grab for another arrow, to see a net flying at him. With an arrow in his hand he pulled his fist down from the quiver and sliced the net in half, where it dropped innocently at his feet. Again he looked up at her with that smile.

Artemis swallowed. She had no time to grab another arrow before he came at her with a flying tackle that drove them both off the cliff. They rolled with each other from the top to the bottom, where Roy landed with no difficulty and Artemis hit the ground with an "oof!" She scrambled to her feet and was almost floored again when Roy's leg swung right at her face.

She ducked and used his open position to her advantage, hitting two solid punches to his stomach and face before he blocked the elbow to his neck and retaliated with a jab to her right side. She moved with the blow and used the momentum to bring her left leg up to meet the back of his head. He propelled his body forward, ducking the kick, and raised his right hand to grab her leg, intending to pull her in and knock her out. Instead, she pushed off the sand with her right leg and sailed right over his head, releasing his grip on her.

Artemis hit the ground running straight for the plane. She looked back to see that he was gaining on her and fired an explosive arrow at him before reaching the left wing of the plane and jumping onto it. She turned when she heard the explosion to see that Roy had avoided it and was tensing his muscles to scale the distance of the jump onto the wing. Artemis backed up to the edge and pulled out a sharp arrow just as his feet planted themselves on the wing in front of her. "Don't make me use this!" She warned through clenched teeth, avoiding a fist.

Roy swung his right leg up to kick her, but she ducked it and stabbed the arrow into his left foot. She used the opportunity while he screeched in pain and struggled to regain his balance to plant a solid kick on his temple that sent him flying off of the plane where he hit the ground, unconscious. Artemis allowed herself a second to stop shaking before jumping off the wing and carefully approaching Roy. She felt his pulse and then quickly drew her hand away from his wrist, disgusted that she had just touched a zombie willingly.

Deciding not to wait around any longer for other zombies to show up and slow her down, Artemis got into the plane and started it up. "I'm coming, guys. I'm coming. Just hold on for me..."

* * *

Wally stumbled his way through the trees and bushes, not caring about the sharp branches and thorns that sliced cuts into his face and arms. _I have to get to Dick. I have to. _ He stumbled into a clearing to see that he was too late.

Dick looked up at him with tears streaming down his face while his own mother plunged her knife into his stomach. He let out a choked cry and slumped to the ground where Mary pulled the blade back out. Wally screamed at the top of his lungs, "NO!" And John and Mary were unconscious before they knew what hit them.

KF gathered his best friend into his arms and sobbed onto the top of his hair. Dick's fingers curled around Wally's wrist and he attempted to say something. Wally heard the garbled noises coming from below him and soothed his friend, "Shh, quiet, Dickie. It's okay, I'm here. I'm here..." Dick squeezed his eyes shut and allowed the tears that were slipping out to slide down his face. The two sat in the snow sobbing with each other until Robin started gasping in pain. "Wally..."

"I've got you, Dick," he soothed, reaching down to place his hands on the wound and try to stop the blood flowing freely and staining the snow. "Please, Wally," Dick whispered. "Don't leave me..." "I'm not going anywhere, Dickie, please just hold on. Stay awake for me Dickie, please..." He felt the rise and fall of Dick's chest begin to slow until it ceased completely. "No!" He cried as he started CPR. Frantically trying to revive his best friend's heart, he was blinded by his own tears. His yells became screams that pleaded with his friend to wake up.

"Please, Dick! Wake up! Come back to me, please! No, no, no, Dick, look at me! Say something! Dick, don't leave, please! Come back! _I need you!"_

* * *

**A/N: it sure is nice to be addicted to writing this story again. Only a few chapters to go, but it's getting intense. It's pretty hard writing fight scenes, but at least the location helps. I mean, what cooler place than on top of a beached plane is there for a fight scene here? Well, the next update probably won't take so long considering the fact that I have the rest of the story outlined already. Thanks for sticking with me! Don't forget to drop me a review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I had a great summer with trips and camps and work and now I've started the academic year again, but this chapter (which was long and difficult and took awhile for me to find the inspiration for) is finally ready! I'm excited for it though and I hope you like it. It is the climax after all. On with it, then. Time to explain that rude cliffhanger I left last time...**

**Still don't own Young Justice... :(**

* * *

The remote was sitting next to Artemis, but she could see from the footage on the tablet she had brought that Scarecrow wasn't going anywhere. She kept an eye on him and an eye on the controls as she neared Wally's location. Crane pulled some food out of the fridge and sat down in the lounge watching what was left of the news stations attempting to describe what was happening in various parts of the world. Artemis smiled. He wasn't going anywhere.

As she zeroed in on Gotham, she was faced with the problem of finding somewhere to land. Several minutes of searching showed that the signal was close to the train tracks. She approached a stretch of the tracks where on one side there was a forest, and on the other was an open field. The signal grew closer and closer and excitement rose inside Artemis' stomach. Then she saw the train. Excitement became dread. It was derailed and smoking. She swallowed her fear and chose to land the plane in the field.

It was a bit bumpy and there was more than a little jolt when she touched down, but the second the plane stopped moving forward she jumped out of her seat and got out of the plane. Her search of the wreckage grew frantic as car after car she found nothing. Finally she reached a car close to the front where she saw medical supplies strewn all over the ground, a glass of water spilled on the floor, the door to the next car blown off its hinges, and Robin's cape resting lifelessly on a seat with a broken window above it.

"No..." Artemis whispered, trailing her fingers along the edge of the cape and sinking to her knees where she dropped her head into her hands. The train was destroyed, obviously by zombies, and that meant it was likely that Wally and Robin had been bitten and were hunting with a zombie pack somewhere. She had failed. Batman would be..._so _angry. She couldn't even begin to think about what was going to happen next. The shock started to wear off and the truth hit her full force.

Wally and Robin were gone.

_Wally _was gone.

Artemis had never thought about the very real possibility that she could lose a teammate. Gone, just like that. Never to be the same again. And Wally... She couldn't recall when she started thinking of him as a teammate and not a nuisance. Even as a teammate- could be have been a friend? Maybe even more if she had thought about it. She had not just lost a teammate. She had lost a friend.

Tears began to slide their way down her cheeks as she remembered his determination to find Robin and then his sorrowful voice over the comm when he told her about his parents. What had she been thinking to get upset at him like she had? This..._apocalypse _was hard on all of them for God's sake, you don't yell at traumatized people when they're acting unusual. She swallowed a sob and pulled Robin's cape close, hanging onto it for dear life.

Robin! He was so much better than her. He was everything she wasn't. A human who could fight one-on-one with and even beat superheroes and meta-humans. And all because he had trained with Batman. What kind of a parent was Batman, really? How could you live with the demon of Gotham City- _the _Batman- and not be mentally disturbed? Well, for all she knew maybe he secretly was. He was so young and so vulnerable and yet his place with them was irreplaceable. He was a younger brother and yet his carefree demeanor had been hiding someone darker and more knowledgeable than they had imagined.

Artemis remembered his leadership when the Cave had been attacked by the Reds. She had discovered then that he understood her. He had been a remarkable friend to her and she had barely noticed. His serious side came out like she had never seen since this apocalypse. In her mind she watched again as he was dragged away by the mob, then seeing his blood in the gymnasium. If only he could give her some advice now. She would do anything to hear him reassure her. Never again would she hear that voice. Not his or Wally's.

Until she did.

"_I need you!"_

That was Wally's voice. She stumbled out of the train and into the snow. Was she hearing things? No...No! There was a blood stain in the snow. Artemis glanced at it once and took off through the trees towards the voice. Tripping over stumps and brushing past branches, she pushed forward until she stumbled into a clearing. She could easily tell what had happened. Two zombies lay unconscious on the ground and Wally was frantically trying to bring a lifeless Robin back to life.

"Please come back to me..."

Artemis approached, but Wally didn't even notice. He pressed his lips to Robin's and filled his mouth with breath. "Wally..." Artemis called out to him.

"Please, please, please, don't-"

"Wally."

"-Don't leave me, I..."

"Wally!"

"I don't want to be alone. Don't leave me alone!"

_"Wally!"_

Wally looked up. He looked at Artemis, then the cape still clutched in her hand then back at her. "Artemis." He said, as if he was still trying to process the fact that she was there. Artemis was taken aback at the pure misery in his eyes. Tears were covering his face and his beautiful green eyes were red from sobbing. She looked at Robin. There was blood seeping from his stomach. The color drained from her face, but she looked at Wally and, thinking quickly, said, "Follow me."

He didn't say a word, but scooped Robin's body into his arms and followed Artemis through the trees and through the destroyed train to a field where a small plane waited for them. Still not asking questions but starting to get curious, Wally looked to Artemis for instructions. "Get him in the back!" She yelled as she tossed him the cape and climbed into the pilot's seat and began searching through the junk on the floor for a medical kit.

In the passenger area Wally laid Robin over a row of seats and placed the cape over him gently. Artemis came running in with a defibrillator and practically threw it at Wally, yelling, "You know what to do with it! We have company!" Before jumping back into the pilot's seat and starting the takeoff process.

Waves of zombies were emerging from the woods and heading for the plane. _Oh, no you don't, _Artemis thought as she accelerated the plane, rolling over the grass and picking up speed. There was a sudden jolt and she knew the zeds had grabbed the back of the plane, so she pulled up with all her might, and the plane left the ground.

They climbed higher and higher and Artemis yelled back to Wally, "Have we lost them?" KF looked out a small window and saw the old man hanging on to the right wing, fighting the pressure to keep his vice-like grip. "A little faster!" He yelled back, giving Robin his third electric shock and feeling for a pulse. "C'mon, Dick," he whispered. "Please..."

There it was- movement! Dick's fingers were shaking. There was a slow, weak pulse. Wally ripped off some of the cape and wrapped it around Robin's midsection, covering the wound. There was a tiny cough and a flinch. The plane suddenly picked up speed and knocked Wally off his feet. "Yes...yes...yes! Yes yes yes!" Wally cried, picking himself back up without a care in the world.

"Wally?" Artemis asked from the front tentatively. "Oh," Wally looked out of the window again to see the old man fly off the wing and hurtle to the ground. "Sorry, man," he said quietly before raising his voice again for Artemis to hear, "Yeah they're gone." Artemis sighed in relief. "And Robin?"

"He's alive," Wally informed her, finally closing his eyes with exhaustion. He dropped into a seat and held Dick's hand.

"Wally? Wally?" Artemis voice was in his head, waking him up. His eyes shot open. Artemis was standing over him. He slowly stood and looked around the plane. His eyes rested on Robin, and his mouth was about to open to ask about him, but Artemis reassured him, "He's stable." Wally nodded, still staring at Robin. "It's amazing," Artemis continued. "I could have sworn he was gone, that there was no way we could bring him back, but you...You were amazing."

Robin coughed again. "N-no..." He mumbled. Wally petted his hair and soothed him with a quiet "shh", his eyes never leaving his best friend. After several minutes, when he finally looked up at Artemis, he asked, "Shouldn't you be flying the plane right now?"

Artemis smiled. "The course is set for Mt. Justice and I figured out how to put this thing on autopilot. Had to go to the bathroom and I wanted to check on..."

She realized Robin's mask wasn't on and gasped. "Dick? Dick Grayson?! _He's_ Robin?" Wally sighed. "I guess the secret's out. It was bound to happen." Artemis was still shell-shocked. "And that means Bruce Wayne is-" "Batman, yeah." Wally finished. "Look, some things went down back there. Things that would only make sense if you _really _knew who he was. So how much do you know?"

She frowned in thought for a moment. "Well he's Bruce Wayne's ward, I think. Isn't he from the circus or something? I mean some kids were teasing him in the hall once and I thought I heard something about the- Oh, the circus! That would explain those crazy acrobatics Robin was always doing. But why did Bruce Wayne, of all people, take him in? What even happened?"

Wally sighed again. "I guess you don't get out much. Well Dick was born and raised in a circus to John and Mary Grayson. They were the stars of the show, The Flying Graysons, the best trapeze artists around. If you hear him mumbling in Romanian it's because that's where he's from. He gets teased because he's a gypsy and a circus kid. When he was eight, he and his family were performing and it was a part of the show where he was waiting on the platform. A mobster named Zucco, I think, was trying to extort money from the circus and when Haly, the owner refused, he tampered with the trapeze lines and, while the Graysons were performing, the lines broke and they all fell to their deaths. Dick was the only survivor, although I think he has an uncle in a coma somewhere.

"Anyway, Bruce Wayne's parents were both killed in front of him when he was around that age too, and he pitied Dick and felt guilty that he hadn't saved the Graysons, being Batman and all. But the child services thought a circus wasn't an acceptable home for a child and because the orphanages were supposedly full, he got sent to juvie. Yeah, _Gotham _juvie. After a few months Bruce finally came and took Dick in, becoming his guardian. Dick found out he was Batman, convinced him to train him and voila! The first sidekick was born. Now you can see why he felt so strongly about not giving away his identity. Not just because Batman said so, but because there's a lot of pain in his past."

Artemis solemnly shook her head. "That's horrible. And those two zombies back there, were they...?" Her throat closed up and she couldn't find her voice. Wally nodded. Artemis gasped. "That must have been terrifying! His own parents..."

Wally grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye seriously. "Artemis, you _can't _tell anyone, okay? He's already in danger, but he would be in so much more if the public knew."

Artemis' mind went back to the civilian mob and their verbal assault of Robin. She knew how dangerous it would be. She had already witnessed some of it. Artemis brushed some of Robin's hair back as a memory struck her. "We'll laugh about this someday..." She whispered. Wally's eyes met hers and both turned to look at the horizon. The worst was still yet to come.

* * *

Only one day had been filled with the carnage and destruction of the rising of the dead, yet just seeing briefly the damage already done as he flew over the world, Superman knew if this lasted much longer there would be no hope. Lex wasn't in his usual office where he could virtually always be found, but that didn't fool the Boy Scout. Luthor was a survivor, he wouldn't have been bitten after only a day. He wasn't in his LexCorp office this time, but Mercy was.

She stood staring emotionally out of the floor-to-ceiling window in Lex's office, watching the destruction of Metropolis. She didn't turn around when Superman walked in. He shut the door behind him and pulled up a chair for her. "Sit down," he ordered gently. She silently obeyed. Instead of going straight for the question he wanted answered, he asked, "Why are you here?" Mercy's eyes stayed glued to the carpet as she answered, "Mr. Luthor relieved me of duty." Superman's eyebrow raised slightly out of curiosity. "Why?"

Mercy sighed, lifted her gaze to meet his, and explained, "Mr. Luthor realized that thanks to the actions of Dr. Crane, he had unknowingly doomed humanity to a zombie apocalypse. He had not intended to do this. The plan was that Crane's newly modified fear gas, now equipped with what he called 'the domino effect', a spreading method, would spread panic among the people, and then Lex, unaffected by this gas because of an immunization, would 'save mankind' with an antidote Crane prepared and be viewed as the world's hero, exposing the Justice League's inability to act. He found out when the meeting on the Watchtower was scheduled and so he told Scarecrow to release the gas, crashed the zeta tubes when the whole League was present, and was prepared for the fear gas to hit Metropolis when he found that Dr. Crane had made a mistake.

"He didn't spread fear gas, he spread the zombie virus by accident. He knew it was dangerous because he didn't have a cure for it, but it's gaseous appearance is similar to fear gas and he believed he had spread the correct formula, until the news reports came in. Mr. Luthor knew that he wasn't immune to the virus and that he had to get away. He left me behind this time. There was too much at stake for me to slow him down. And someone had to get you heroes to fix it. He is currently on a plane to a secret base in the Pacific. So here are the new access codes for the zeta tubes if you'll take them. There is no point stopping the Justice League from saving the world this time, because we can't save it either."

She slipped the piece of paper out of her pocket, handed it to Superman, and then rose and went back to the window. Clark thought, just for a moment, that he saw a single tear slide down her face, but he said nothing and left the room.

* * *

Superboy was still suspicious of Crane, but he wasn't stupid, and he knew if he wanted to stop this outbreak he would have to listen to him. He was currently slaving away, unpacking the tianeptine, while M'gann was preparing some other chemicals with Scarecrow's direction. When both were done, Crane directed them both to stand back as he set to work. Megan looked over at Conner and attempted to smile. Superboy sighed and pulled her close, rubbing her back gently while she shut her eyes from exhaustion.

"Do you think the others are okay?" She mumbled into his shirt. Before he could answer, his comm went off. "Artemis?" He asked. Megan pulled back and looked at him curiously. "Yeah, it's me. Look, I've landed a plane on the beach and KF and Robin are with me, but neither of them are doing so hot and- shut up, Wally, your ankle is still healing!- uh, sorry, I need to get them inside safely and there are zombies out there, Red Arrow included. Can you help?" Artemis asked.

"We can- wait, Red Arrow?! No, no, never mind I'll ask later- we can help. Just a minute, we'll meet you out there," Conner answered before turning to Crane and yelling, "Keep working, we'll be right back!" Scarecrow nodded quickly and continued his work.

When the two aliens reached the beach, Artemis was already coming out to meet them, suspiciously glancing in every direction in an almost frantic way. _Roy's not here, _she thought. _I could swear this is where I knocked him out! _ Superboy frowned. "What?" He asked. She shook her head and met his eyes. "Nothing, just looking for zeds. You didn't see any on the way here, did you?" Both Superboy and Miss Martian shook their heads.

Artemis sighed, "Well, we need to do this as quickly as possible. We'll have to unhook Robin from the IV and M'gann can levitate him in. I'll help Wally after her and Conner, you can watch our backs. Will that work?" "Sure," both agreed. Artemis stuck her head back into the plane to see Wally unhooking Robin, whose mask was repositioned, and carrying him out. "Ready," he said in a hoarse voice. Miss Martian lifted Robin into the air and flew over the trees, as quickly as possible. Artemis placed her arm around Kid Flash and started walking while Superboy kept an eye out for zeds from behind.

The group had almost made it to the door when a shout came from behind. M'gann didn't glance back, but opened the back door and thrust herself and Robin inside with her telekinesis. Artemis looked back to see zombie-Roy barely being held off by Conner. She pushed Wally through the closing door and yelled, "Get in!" She drew her bow and an arrow and fired at Red Arrow quickly.

This time she was more confident. She had taken him down before, she could do it again. Superboy threw Roy off of him and stepped back while Artemis fired an arrow at the strap of Roy's quiver. The quiver came tumbling off, arrows rolling out, and Conner kicked it out of reach. Now Red Arrow would have to rely on close-range combat. Remembering the earlier fight, Artemis yelled to Superboy, "Go for his head!", knowing there was probably a weak spot there from his fall off the wing before, and ignoring the annoying voice in the back of her head that whispered "Finding your opponent's weaknesses. Just like your father."

Artemis fired a few arrows at his feet, hoping to hit his injured one. When a boxing glove arrow found its mark, Roy doubled over in pain and Superboy took his shot a and punched him in the side of the head. Roy fell unconscious and the two heroes turned to enter the mountain. Megan, inside, opened the door with the controls and Artemis and Superboy walked in to find Crane working and Wally and Miss M hooking Robin up in the med bay. "I think I know what you meant about Roy now," Conner told Artemis. Megan looked up as they entered with a mixture of relief and concern in her eyes.

"He'll survive," was all she said, looking back down at Robin. Wally sat in a chair by his friend's bedside, never releasing his hand as Artemis and Megan went to fix lunch and Conner supervised Dr. Crane. It wasn't until afterwards that the first batch of 'zombie cure' was ready. Scarecrow called everyone over to the lab to hear his instructions. "I have figured out how to reverse engineer it. But before we release it we need a test subject. I'm not making the same mistake again."

Artemis and Conner looked at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking. Conner sighed, "I'll get him." Artemis nodded and grabbed her bow. "It'll be faster with two." Megan locked eyes with Superboy as the two walked out of the room. _Be careful, _she told him mentally. He nodded and shut the door behind him. Crane remained staring at the door speechless before smirking and turning to Miss M and Kid Flash. "So you heroes _are _always risking your lives stupidly like that," he joked. "Get back to work," Wally growled.

* * *

"I guess they don't stay passed out very long," Conner grumbled.

"I have run into zombie-Roy enough times to know that he'll come to us, trust me," Artemis informed her partner. Superboy shrugged as the two stood in the trees with the beach just down the hill, the woods silent around them. Minutes passed by and Conner grew impatient. "What time is it?" He asked, irritated. Artemis checked her watch. "Noon. We've been here ten minutes."

She went back to leaning against a tree and listening. Superboy began pacing. "Why isn't he here yet?" He asked more loudly. Artemis opened her mouth to quiet him, but he went on even louder, "You said he would be here!" "Shh!" Artemis shushed him, but he shouted anyway, "Well, where is he?!"

Artemis heard a crackling in the woods and looked up as zombie-Roy and a pack of his allies came flying through the trees at them. Artemis and Conner jumped back as an arrow landed at their feet. "Looks like he brought reinforcements," Artemis called, rapidly firing arrows at the zombies and taking out two of the ones still in the tree while Superboy roared and went straight for Roy.

Artemis took out the others one by one while Conner tried to hold the zombie archer down. "Knock him out!" The Kryptonian yelled. Artemis whipped her head around and saw SB struggling to hold down Green Arrow's first partner. Finding a knockout arrow, she quickly nocked and fired it, where it hit zombie-Roy square in the face. "Hurry!" Artemis called, retreating to the mountain while Superboy pulled Roy up and placed him over his shoulder, facing the ground. "There could be more."

* * *

Megan watched Wally slowly sip on some water while she tended to Robin. She resisted the urge to sigh. It would be quite the effort to pull all of their lives back together when this was all over.

Seeing Conner and Artemis outside on the security camera, she rushed the door and help them inside. Conner dumped Red Arrow on the examination table next to Crane. Jonathan quickly readied the syringe before injecting it into a vein in his arm. Artemis shifted uncomfortably. Everyone held their breath.

Megan suddenly gasped, "I can sense his mind! He's coming back!" Roy was, in fact, coming back. He was changing before them, skin returning to a normal color,eyes losing their blackness, and the stench of rotting flesh was slowly lifting from the room. Roy sat up straight very quickly. "Something stinks," He stated simply. Carefully, he swung his legs over the side of the table and looked around. "Someone had better explain this," he snapped. Everyone let out a breath.

* * *

When Roy was up to date, showered, changed, fed, and finally relaxing, he sat next to Wally who stared vigilantly at Robin's sleeping face. Roy looked back and forth between them, usually the rambunctious, scheming, trouble-making duo of the Team,and now both silent.

He glanced around the med bay uncomfortably for a minute before asking, "What happened to you two on the train? Artemis said you were attacked." Wally slowly looked up at Roy, then back down at Robin. "It was his parents," he answered quietly. Red Arrow knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "What was his- oh! You mean...?" Wally nodded as realization swept over the archer. "Are you telling me they _stabbed _him?!" He asked loudly.

Wally looked at him with a dash of panic in his eyes. "Shh! Yes. They did. They derailed our train, turned a civilian into a zed, and carried away their son while I was being tackled by zombies. And right when I caught up to them, they stabbed him. I knocked them both out and Artemis brought us here, but... Roy. _If _he gets over the physical trauma, how in God's name is he going to get past the mental and emotional of this?"

Roy tried not to see the shine of tears in Wally's eyes building up, waiting to fall. "I failed him, Roy... I came to Gotham to help him and I couldn't. From his own parents..." Roy gave a sigh and pulled Wally close to him, breaking all his usual personal barriers to comfort the redhead as he sobbed like a child. "Shh, it wasn't your fault. We'll figure all this out, " he murmured. "I can't lose him, Roy. I just can't lose him..."

Dr. Crane cleared his throat uncomfortably. Roy whirled on him angrily while Wally dried his tears. "What do you want?" He growled. "I'm ready to release the cure over the Eastern coast. I've weaponized it to be fired as a dart from a tranquilizer gun." The rest of the Team was summoned and Scarecrow began his explanation of the 'domino effect'. "If a cured citizen touches an uncured zombie, the zombie is cured and so on. It doesn't spread quite as quickly as the zombie virus does, but with the darts it should speed up the process. I suggest you contact your Atlantean friends with the weapons and get started. We don't have much time."

* * *

The group split up to prepare. Megan remained standing there for a moment before quietly saying, "Thank you..." Crane didn't meet her eyes. "If you knew anything, Martian, you wouldn't thank me," he replied. She looked at him curiously and joined the others. Artemis was calling Kaldur, asking where he was while Wally, Roy and Conner argued over what to do about Robin.

"We can't leave him here," Roy said firmly. "Not alone with Scarecrow. Everyone is forgetting that Crane is a villain here- he's only helping us to save his own skin." "But he couldn't possibly come with us!" Wally exclaimed. "Haven't you seen his injuries?" "Maybe we should move him to a more secure room," Conner suggested. "Scarecrow is the one who needs to be moved!" Wally objected. "But where? We can't waste time relocating the entire lab," Roy argued. "I like Superboy's idea." Artemis cut into the conversation by saying, "Hey guys? Let's worry about that later. The Atlanteans are here."

In a few minutes, the five of them were standing on the beach waiting for the military that would save them to come out of the water. The first head that broke the surface and arose from the deep was Kaldur's. The heroes excitedly waded out to greet him happily. "Team! Our army is assembled and we have brought many weapons. Let us get to work." Within minutes, Atlantean after Atlantean was marching out of the ocean and onto the beach, bringing with them weapons and vehicles of all kinds. The Atlantean military itself was enormous, but the addition of hundreds of volunteers made the army even more massive than it had been before.

Kaldur selected the highest officers to come with him to the mountain while the rest waited on the beach. When, in the confusion of it all, Aqualad sighted Roy, he happily made his way over and greeted him. "Red Arrow! You have been cured!" Roy couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I was the guinea pig. They tested the cure on me and now that we know it works, we're ready to use it. Come on in, it's distribution time. I'm ready to finally shoot some zombies." Kaldur patted his friend on the shoulder. "That is good, then. We are ready to do the same."

The concept of the domino effect was briefly explained to the officers before the distribution process began. KF loaded weapons with the cure darts using his super speed and handed them to officers who gave them to their squads. Megan loaded the bioship's cannon with cure darts while Superboy and Wolf were loading cannons of various war vehicles the Atlanteans had brought. Artemis and Red Arrow called various police stations as well as governments from local to national even as far as other countries whose leaders were in hiding. They told them of the plan to reverse the zombie virus and while the world leaders were happy to hear of it, they courteously left it to the heroes to fix things and remained in hiding. Soldiers set out one by one until the original heroes were the only ones left. They loaded up the bioship and took off, except for the almost-forgotten Robin and the still-working Kid Flash

Wally remained lost in his work, loading the guns with super speed and ignoring everything else, until he heard Robin. "Help..." He groaned from his bed in the med lab. Wally gave a gun to a soldier and then waited for him to march off before rushing over. The Boy was still asleep, tossing restlessly from a nightmare. "No! No, stop! Please!" Wally shook him awake as gently as possible, watching with concern while Robin blindly claimed around in panic before realizing where he was and stopping.

"Wally..." He murmured. "Yeah?" His friend answered. "I want to help." Wally was confused. "You want to- what?! Help, what do you mean? You can't even walk, how could you help-?" "Please," Robin begged. "I don't want to stay here alone. I have to go with you." Wally sighed and rested his head on the side of the bed as he dropped into a chair. "That's crazy. Even if I do agree, no one else will." Robin looked at calmly and said in a serious voice, "Take me to Gotham. Put me on a rooftop. Let me shoot from the high ground. Nothing can get to me, I can get to anything."

Wally stared at him in amazement. Here was a hero so devoted to his city, that he would do all he could to rescue it, even with a life-threatening injury. Before he even registered himself saying it, he agreed. "Okay. But you can't go alone, and you must be careful. I'm not going to lose you again." He hoped he wouldn't regret that decision.

* * *

On the Watchtower, Red Tornado knocked on the door to Batman's room. Bruce got up, repositioned his cowl, and opened his door. "Has Superman called?" The Caped Crusader asked. Red Tornado nodded. "He explained that he came across Luthor's bodyguard, Mercy, and he will tell you exactly what happened when he arrives. She gave him the access codes and he is attempting to find someone to put them in the zeta system. He should be here relatively soon," the android stated.

Red Tornado left Batman in the living area. The TV had been silent for most of the day, but now it crackled to life and displayed a news channel. He stopped to listen. The news anchor's face was up next to the camera lens, peering into it. She looked slightly disheveled but happy to be alive. Batman looked at it curiously. He thought all the news stations had shut down because everyone had been bitten. Well, he knew for certain Iris had. "This thing on?" The reporter asked without an answer. He watched the woman back away a bit and fix her hair before clearing her throat. Behind the cowl, Bruce rolled his eyes. She must be one of those ambitious reporters, desperate for a good story to make them famous. He knew several of those. "The President got a call a few hours ago from a group of heroes and now there are Atlanteans- that's right, soldiers from Atlantis- marching through our streets with a weapon that appears to be taking effect on these...zombies. The President hasn't said a whole lot about this, but we do know that the virus that started this whole mess has been reverse-engineered to create a cure..."

Batman almost smiled. Barry walked in. "Isn't it great? I'm sure Wally's helping. I'll bet he's in Central. When the Central City news comes on again, Iris is gonna be there. She'll get cured. Wally will take care of it." Bruce could practically feel the confidence flowing off of him. He was tempted to be confident as well, but he knew this wasn't over yet.

* * *

Robin took the time in which his teammates were running about the world distributing weapons and destroying the virus to clear his head. He decided to practice walking and work on his shooting accuracy. Minding his wounds, he slowly slid off of the bed. He put a little weight on his feet, supporting himself with his arms still on the bed, and slowly added more and more weight until he was standing straight.

He allowed a small smile before gently releasing the bed and trying to balance. He lasted several seconds before tipping back towards the bed. He sighed and pushed himself back to his feet. Hands still firm on the bed this time, he pushed his right foot forward and lifted his left off the ground. His hands could no longer reach the bed behind him, so he slowly pulled them close and stood still for a few seconds.

When he started to wobble, he leaned forward and regained his balance. He took another step. And another. And eventually, he was in the Cave's exercise room, with a hand on the wall. He made his way over to the targets and grabbed a dart gun. He grit his teeth together and shot at the target. He missed. He raised his hand and shot again. Closer this time... He kept on shooting until he got a bullseye every time. While he shot darts at the target, he didn't hear Crane come in.

"What are you going to do with me?" he asked. Robin turned around and frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked. "When this is over, are you taking me back to Arkham?" Scarecrow smirked. Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask. "Of course we are. You're already in custody. It shouldn't be too hard to put you away again. You realize this _was _all your fault, right?" Crane crossed his arms and walked towards him. "At least I solve my own problems, unlike some heroes. Without me, you would all have been infected. I made the cure. That should count for something."

"It was necessary, Crane. Saving the world isn't like community service. You don't always get the credit. We'll make sure the authorities know your part in it, but don't think that sets you free. You're still a criminal with bad intentions."

"Hey, guys!" Wally called, speeding into the room before Crane had a chance to answer. "What now?" The criminal groaned, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes with his other hand. Wally stopped and sighed. "It... it's just not fast enough. We can't keep up with the zombie virus. Prince Orm arrived with more men, but- yeah, the world is huge and it's taking too long to get everywhere. We haven't even gotten past the Mississippi yet. We don't know what to do with the people who get cured; they just run away into the survival shelters..."

"Have you thought of having them help you?" Crane inquired in a very sarcastic tone. Wally caught a breath. "Uh- no." Scarecrow rolled his eyes. "Of course not. Explain the domino effect. Get them to attack the zeds instead of running off and hiding. Okay? Just go and inspire courage and hope and whatever other sappy stuff you heroes usually do- this is natural, it should be easy."

Wally ignored Crane's snarkiness and nodded. "Wally," Robin said quietly. KF turned to see him standing with the weapons. "What're you doing up? I thought we agreed you would stay until it was time for-" "Wally," Robin interrupted him. "Wally, I'm fine. See?" Walking. Shooting. Fine." He demonstrated his regained balance. Crane turned to the targets and started pulling out darts.

"We're gonna need more than an inspirational speech," Dick explained. "We need to stop the zeds at the source." Kid Flash was immediately shaking his head, but Robin continued. "Gotham. Take me to Gotham, Wally." At his protests, Dick stepped closer and grabbed his arms. "You promised me. Come on. Let's go."

Wally sighed. He didn't want to do it, but he couldn't refuse Dick now. He sighed again and turned around. Robin couldn't hide his smile as he climbed on Wally's back. "Good luck, " Scarecrow muttered, eyes widening in surprise when he heard himself, and then closing in embarrassment when Robin whipped his head around and asked, "What was that?"

Crane glared back. "Nothing," he insisted, but Robin's wicked smile remained. In a few seconds they were gone and Crane was alone. "You're gonna need it," he whispered.

* * *

Robin found himself atop a roof in Gotham, Wayne Tower above him to the right and a gun in his hand. He gazed at it for a few seconds. Bruce would never approve of the use of a gun, but this was a special case and it was necessary. He turned his head to the smoke-filled sky. He was out there somewhere and he was coming like he always did.

The city below was engulfed in war. Robin quickly caught sight of Artemis' flashy green outfit and watched her take out attackers right and left with ease. He glanced around for Wally, but only spotted a yellow streak zooming off west for Central City. He knew he'd be back later. Robin aimed his weapon at the zeds in the road beneath him and began taking them out one by one, stopping anything headed for Artemis.

He wasn't even aware of how much time went by before he began slowing down. The zombies looked up eventually and realized where the shots were coming from. While Robin had been able to remain virtually undetected for the past thirty minutes or so, he was unable to escape anywhere when they started climbing up the fire escape.

Robin dropped his gun next to him and pulled some explosives from his belt. He tossed them to the stairs and then covered himself with his cape as they blew up the entire fire escape and sent it and the zeds attached to the ground. Dick raised his gun again and shot the pinned zombies. He continued for several minutes shooting zeds in the street and off of nearby buildings, giving Artemis a chance to hold off the next wave . He was covering Artemis' back, but no one was watching his. He never saw it coming.

The filthy thing had gone around the back of the building and climbed up the windows, eventually getting up to the rooftop and approaching the hero from behind. Robin spun around to see the zombie inches away. He lifted his gun, but the zed smacked his hand away with surprising force. The cure gun went flying away over the edge of the builfing, and Robin went with it. He caught the ledge with his left hand, screaming when it pulled on his left shoulder.

He glanced down and froze in terror at the drop below him. He pulled his head up to see that the zombie was gone. He held on and on for longer and longer, fingers slowly slipping and shoulder growing weaker. It was too much, and he was fighting for his life. He lifted his eyes to the sky and ignored the tears seeping out of them. He was so scared. He just wanted to let go. There was no one to catch him, he'd join his parents...

But somewhere up there was Bruce. His heart ached for Bruce. Could he really leave him like this? He slowly lowered his head again. There went the last of his strength. The decision wasn't really his. There was no one to catch him. He couldn't hold on forever. It was a matter of letting go now or later. There wasn't much choice. He quietly wondered if it would hurt.

Robin calmed himself and closed his eyes. This was it- his last moment. He decided to face it with courage. His eyes opened, took one last look around, and then closed as he relaxed his fingers and let go.

* * *

**Yep. One chapter left. I hope you liked it! Sorry for the probable spelling mistakes. It's hard to proofread a chapter as ridiculously long as this one. If it's really bad, just ask what exactly I was trying to say there and I'll find it. Please review, I love outside opinions. Gives me faith people are reading this. **

**Have a good day :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Here it is, friends! The final chapter of ****_The Underworld Age_**** :0 It has been thrilling and suspenseful, I'm sure, but now things will finally come to a head. I'm sure you've been waiting for the reunion of our favorite characters and their respective partners, but we've still got a zombie virus to destroy so let's get to it!**

* * *

The afternoon moved slowly. There were less and less anxious civilians rushing into the Arkham Refuge , but everyone sat and waited. News stations began to come back on. It was revealed that a cure was making its way around. Alfred and Leslie had smiled knowingly at each other before before going back to tending to injured people. The two of them had been sitting in what was originally the asylum's kitchen on a coffee break, when Commissioner Gordon walked in and announced that someone wanted to see them. Both jumped up in excitement, hoping it was Richard, but Jim put up his hand and shook his head. "It's just a reporter. He's asking about the Refuge."

Leslie looked to Alfred in curiosity. Alfred asked, "What is this reporter's name, if I may?" "Clark Kent," Gordon answered, pulling out a business card. "Daily Planet, Metropolis. Don't know why he's over here, but if you want to talk to him, go ahead. He's in the lobby." Gordon handed Alfred the card and left. Alfred nodded to Leslie.

"Mister Kent," Alfred greeted cordially. His raised eyebrows were a simple indication of the many questions he had ready to ask. Clark stood up and cleared his throat. "Can we go somewhere private?" He asked quietly. Leslie took him by then arm and walked him into an empty cell. Alfred shut and locked the door behind him and nodded to the doctor, who began, "Explain this."

Clark nervously rubbed his hands on his pants before answering, "I flew down from the Watchtower. Batman originally sent me to find the Team and get them to safety. Right when I broke through the atmosphere he told me to find Lex Luthor instead and get the access codes for the zeta tubes. He wasn't home but Mercy was. She gladly gave me the codes and told me that apparently Lex wanted Scarecrow to release a fear gas, trap us in the Watchtower, and then have Lex save everybody to discredit the JLA, but Scarecrow screwed up and released this zombie virus by accident. So, of course, Lex runs for his life and tells Mercy to give up the access codes to allow the League to save everyone and send Scarecrow to jail. I was going to fix the Metropolis zeta tube when I realized I need some technical expertise or I could fry the whole thing and the League is trapped up there with zero emergency systems working and zombies running rampant. Of course, then my boss spots me and tells to head down to Gotham and get a news scoop. I was directed here and thank God you two are here because my luck just might be running out..."

"Anyway, think you can help me?" He asked, handing Mercy's codes to Alfred. The butler grinned uncharacteristically. "Of course, sir."

* * *

Artemis held off wave after wave of zombies to her own shock. She would turn around and a group of zeds she didn't remember shooting would be on the ground, changing into civilians. And then they suddenly started to overwhelm her. She was out of breath, reloading her gun as quickly as possible with the attackers almost on top of her, when she heard a sharp scream. She turned to see Robin hanging off the side of a building by one hand. Her mouth opened in shock. It was him who shot those zeds, she realized. _He had my back,_ she thought._ I need to have his._

Immediately she burst into action. Running below him as he hung from a five story building, she stopped and prepared for impact. Impact hit her like a brick. She opened her eyes to find herself on the ground with the little bird limp in her arms. She sat up quickly and winced at the pain in her back. Her heart rate picked up at the warm liquid she felt on her left hand.

She turned the boy's body with her right hand to see the back of his head bleeding. She rummaged in her utility belt and retrieved a bandage that she wrapped around his head with some difficulty before proceeding to check him over for other injuries. She immediately noted the angle of his legs and concluded they were broken but reaching for them a pain shot up in her left arm and she clutched it while a hiss escaped her clenched teeth.

Her arm was broken, too. She mumbled a few Vietnamese curse words before remembering the zeds and turning in panic expecting them to be right there. Instead she saw Kid Flash. "Wally!" She gasped. "What happened?!" The speedster screeched. Artemis glowered at him. "What does it look like? Robin fell off of a five story building and I caught him. As a result, he has a head wound and two broken legs, _something _is wrong with my back, and Harley Quinn may as well have smashed a sledgehammer into my harm, it hurts so much! Do you have any idea what exactly Robin is doing here?"

Wally opened his mouth, sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll explain later-" "Oh, you'd better explain later," Artemis cut him off. "Help me here?" She asked, motioning to Robin's body still on her.

Kid Flash picked up the Boy Wonder off of Artemis and inspected him for unseen injuries. Artemis pulled herself to her feet and groaned. "Why are you here anyway?" She asked. "I saw a massive wave of zeds coming," Wally explained. "Bigger than anything we've seen yet. We need a gameplan; they'll be here in minutes." Artemis groaned again, this time in frustration. "I'm gonna have trouble shooting with a banged up wrist, Wally. We need another way to knock them all out."

Robin stirred awake in Wally's arms. He whined, "My legs..." and promptly shut his mouth, not wanting to reveal any weakness. "I think they're broken," Artemis explained softly, frowning mentally at Dick's ill-concealed attempt at covering his pain. "You caught me?" He whispered. She nodded while he shook his head and let out a chuckle that turned into a cough. "...And I had just started walking again, too." Artemis laughed, "I don't know how you're still alive." Wally looked over his shoulder nervously. "They're coming, Arty." "Crap," she hissed before looking to Robin. "Any suggestions?"

He scrunched his eyebrows together in thought before saying, "Get underground. They're undead, they won't want to follow us down. They'll never look there. Let's get in the sewers." He pointed to an open manhole, untouched for the last few days. Wally nodded to Artemis, who sprinted for the hole and climbed down the ladder with her hand, dropping to the ground. "Eww..." She trailed off, wrinkling her nose. Wally made his way down next, with Robin slung over his shoulder. He hit the ground and leaned Robin against the wall while they collected their bearings, panting out visible breath that became fog in the cold air. They listened to movement above them for a few minutes, lying in wait until Artemis finally sighed. "We need some way to eradicate them all at once. We'll never get this done otherwise." There was more silence before Dick spoke up. "I might have a way." "How?" Wally immediately asked.

Dick lifted his head, still regaining his breath, before saying, "A few years before I became Robin, Scarecrow gassed the whole city with fear toxin, using the water in the sewage systems to send clouds of it into the air and throw Gotham into panic, and it worked until Batman stopped him. If we do the same thing with the zombie cure- release it into the air all at once- we could cure practically the entire city simultaneously. It would at least make it safe enough to go out there and even the odds a bit. We just need the device 'Crow used to convert his serum to a gas, and a whole lot more of that serum..."

"Where's Scarecrow's laboratory?" Wally asked. Robin gave him the address from memory and watched Wally speed back up the manhole and away. Robin bit back a groan while his head pounded and instead asked Artemis, "How many liquid vials have we got in those cure darts?" "Six per gun," she explained, emptying her utility belt and finishing, "And I've got four guns." "So twenty-four..." "That's right, math geek," Artemis smirked. Richard feigned confusion. "...Sorry...?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Artemis grinned. "Yeah, I know who you are. It was a bit necessary for me to save your life." Dick looked at her nervously with pursed lips before deciding, "Okay. Well, anyway, twenty-four darts gives us twelve for each half of the city. That should cover it, if I am remembering correctly the range of the square footage covered by a single dose of gaseous toxin..." He trailed off pensively while Artemis laughed, "You really are a geek!" He smiled at her. "Well, it comes in handy at a time like this, don't you think?" She nodded just as Wally came down the ladder again.

"Alright folks, here we have a liquid converter of some kind," he announced, placing it on the floor. "I really didn't know what to look for in Crane's lab, so I went round testing stuff." Dick started to shake his head at the typicality of it, but winced at the returning of the pounding and remained still. Wally went on, regardless, "Threw some H2O in here and found out this thing is a heat machine. Steam came blowing out and I figured I'd run another test with some air freshener...Long story short, this baby is our best bet. Guy has a whole closet full of 'em, so how many do you need?" Robin winked at Artemis. "That'll be twelve." "Coming right up, sir."

* * *

Elsewhere in Gotham, in a particular phone booth in a particular alley, Clark Kent paced back and forth anxiously while the collected Alfred Pennyworth calmly typed the new access codes into the zeta tube console. "Hey, are you almost done there?" the reporter asked. "Almost," the butler deadpanned. "Alright, well, this place is crawling with zeds, so the sooner the better..." "Any moment," Alfred reassured the Boy Scout. The tube suddenly beeped. Pennyworth stepped aside. "Go ahead," he instructed. Kent hurried into the phone booth as it flashed to life. "Recognize: Superman..." the computer began speaking. The butler caught a glimpse of the reporter's relieved smile before a bright light enveloped him and he disappeared from sight. "Good luck, sir," Alfred said.

Every ear in the Watchtower perked up and the sound of the zeta tubes whirring back to life. Heroes ran into the room to see Clark Kent materialize and wave them over. "Tubes are working again!" He yelled. "Thank God..." Arrow muttered. "Let's move!" Batman growled motioning to Tornado at the console who gave him a simple thumbs up. Heroes went running into the tubes with their spirits lifted and confidence renewed. Paula wheeled into the room and watched the Leaguers dashing off excitedly with a smile on her face. "I think I'll go watch the news," she told Tornado wryly.

Batman, Green Arrow, and Icon ran out of the phone booth to see Agent A standing in the alleyway. "Welcome home, Master Batman," the Englishman greeted the surprised men with nods. Batman nodded back. "Let's go..." he addressed his colleagues, observing the state of his city with some distaste. The three of the had barely made it a block before green gas started to seep out of the sidewalk grates. Icon slowed to a halt. "Hey, anybody else seeing this?" Arrow cursed. "I thought they had Scarecrow under control!" he muttered angrily. Batman held up his hand to silence them. "Look," he said, pointing to a pack of zeds higher up the street. They were collapsing, convulsing for a few seconds on the ground, and then returning to their former state. A few of them who had been dead before the outbreak stood up and began walking toward their respective cemeteries and graveyards.

The heroes were almost speechless. "The gas is curing them?" Icon asked aloud. "It is," Batman monotoned patiently. "And that means-" "That means the kids are out here somewhere!" Green Arrow shouted excitedly. The three of them moved even faster.

* * *

"I need to get back to Central and try this. Mind if I take one of these vaporizer-thingies?" KF asked. Artemis shook her head. "You'll be alright here with just the two of you, right?" Wally directed his question at Robin. "Of course!" he answered. "We'll go up to check that it worked in a few minutes. Off you go!" Wally smiled, grabbed a machine and ran away.

The Flash knew he should be fighting off zombies, but when he actually got there, he found it difficult to prioritize. Central City in this kind of chaos was different in person. Impulsively, he ran home. He skidded to a halt when he almost collided with a car, of all things. "Hey! It's not safe, what're you-" He stopped yelling when he saw who was driving. "Iris!" He ran to her and pulled her close. "Barry, you're here!" She answered, shocked. He pulled away and gave her a kiss. "And you're alive!" Barry replied with a joyous laugh, before getting serious. "What are you doing driving?" She smiled. "Well, I'm going to work. My boss called and he said he saw the Flash running around shooting zombies with a cure of some kind and he wanted me to cover it... Once he knew I was okay, of course...Wait a minute you couldn't be the one running around Central, you were on the Watchtower at a meeting, weren't you? My God, Barry, he meant Wally was curing people, not you!"

"Wally!" Barry suddenly remembered and dashed off. Iris pulled her hair out of her face, shaking her head in amazement. Barry found the West's front door open. All his worries were immediately put to rest, however, when he entered and found Wally giving his parents (who appeared to be lying, zombified, in the entry hall) an injection of some kind. "The cure!" Barry exclaimed. Kid Flash's head shot up and he presently drew and aimed an Atlantean gun before recognizing his visitor, and breaking into a grin. He hurled himself at the Flash. "Uncle Barry!" Barry chuckled and squeezed him back. "Well, what did I say, we did get our family back together!" Wally lifted his head, face wet with tears of joy. "I knew you would do it," His uncle told him. Wally just shook his head in amazement and buried it into his mentor again.

* * *

Megan sensed more and more minds activating in Metropolis, as if a switch had been turned on and back to 'human mode'. She sat pleasantly in the bioship, shooting darts at every zombie she saw. Superboy had asked her to help him with the city for which he felt responsible, and it was proving to be quite the task, due to the sheer size of Metropolis alone. The presence of another Martian shocked her into a frozen position. She immediately recognized it and turned around in her seat to see Uncle J'onn phasing through the top of the bioship and landing on the floor in a standing position. She threw herself at him, bubbly with happiness and then released him and twirled midair.

Outside, Superboy was working furiously to hit everything coming at him as hard as he possibly could. He shot more zombies than anyone else save Kid Flash, ultimately, and the several hours in which this was accomplished were completely adrenaline-fueled. Zombie after zombie had about half a second to approach him before being stabbed with the cure. He was so lost in his furiousness that he didn't notice when he turned around, right into a very broad chest, labelled with an 'S' similar to his own. Superboy stared dumbfoundedly at his mentor, as a smile formed slowly over Clark's face. Superman pointed to a zombie that Conner had apparently neglected.

"I got your back."

That was all he needed to hear. He smiled the largest he had in days. Red Arrow, Aquaman, Aqualad, and Wonder Woman all approached from behind Superman, smiling as large as Conner and ready to kick out some zombies. "You'll never guess who's here," Roy told him dryly. "The cavalry has arrived."

* * *

When Artemis poked her blonde head through the manhole and scanned the area, she decided that the coast was clear. "We're good. Just give me a minute to figure out how to get you up here," She called to Robin, who nodded tiredly. "We're good," He repeated to himself. He shook his head. He wouldn't be 'good' after the adrenaline wore off. Dick sighed and looked up the manhole at Artemis who appeared to be in deep thought. "You know, why don't we just see how it goes. I have at least one arm that still works..."

She looked back down at him, expecting a follow-up sarcastic comment, or a smirk signifying he was joking. But he wasn't. She frowned. He was right. _He had a bullet hole in his shoulder- that's one immobile arm- two broken legs, a stab wound in his midsection..._ "How are you even alive?" She asked aloud. "Are you immortal or something?" She hadn't expected that he could hear her, but he replied in a small voice, "I think the deep questions can wait." She started climbing back down the ladder towards him. "One arm that still works. Let's see how this goes." The kid was willing to attempt to climb up this slippery, metal ladder with one arm while not jostling the bullet wound, or the knife wound, or the broken legs. _He's probably done crazier before, _she concluded. In any case, it certainly encouraged her that such a broken boy would have enough motivation to give every ounce of his remaining strength to get up there and fight when he had already been brought back from the brink of death several times before. She hit the ground and looked at him.

As if reading her thoughts, he said in an irritated tone, "You know, I won't have much of a story to tell when we finish this. I'm pretty sure I was unconscious at least 50% of the time." He added in a mumble, "I'm better than this." Sensing she was about to disagree, he looked up determinedly. "If you want to help me feel like I've done something, let me try this." There was no use arguing. His mind was set. She shut her mouth and nodded. Positioning herself directly behind him, in case of emergency, she gestured for him to begin. He grasped the first rung firmly with one hand. Closing his eyes, he grit his teeth and put every drop of energy he had into one pull. After a few tantalizingly long moments, he managed to bring his chin to the bar. He let out an unintelligible grunt which Artemis interpreted easily and she lifted her arms to support the bottoms of his feet, pushing him up until he could lift his one arm and grab a rung several bars higher.

Artemis had never seen anything so amazing in her life. Progress was slow, but the faithfulness with which Robin grasped each rung was a perfect picture of patient perseverance. When he finally reached the top, he collapsed, shaking, on the asphalt. Artemis rushed to his side with concern, but as she turned him over, she discovered that he was shaking from laughter. Tears of happiness streamed from his eyes. Fast and heavy footsteps approaching caused her to pick up her head with lightning speed. A million thoughts rushed through at once. _Is the gas not permanent? Did it not cover the whole area? Could we have missed some of them? Is it just a corpse returning to its grave? Is Wally back already?_

All of her questions were silenced when she saw who it was. Batman, Green Arrow, and Icon came flying around the corner at top speed. Lost in a flurry of excitement and blinded by her own astonished disbelief, Artemis could barely remember the events that took place immediately afterward. One moment, however, stuck in her mind for the rest of her life. Ollie had somewhere along the way of hurried explanations and frantic apologies gathered her into his arms as she stared, confused, into the space directly behind him. "You're here..." she mumbled. "Are you alright, Artemis? Could I help at all? Do you need anything?" She pulled back and allowed a sarcastic smile. "I could really use some sleep."

* * *

Somewhere in the brightly colored tunnel of dizziness Robin made out voices. Icon sighing in relief. Green Arrow reassuring Artemis that her mother was perfectly fine. Artemis laughing at something one of them said. Suddenly the flashy tunnel disappeared and everything was black. Dick's eyebrows drew together in thought. He was still perfectly conscious; he knew he hadn't blacked out. This new darkness had a feeling. It was brushing against his face. It was soft and comforting and smelled like- Bruce!

Dick grunted and the cape was removed from his face in answer. Batman had been standing directly above him. He swooped down and collected his boy into his arms as carefully as he could. Dick suddenly found his face wet with tears as he watched his mentor attempt to maintain his composure. "I'm here, I'm home," He whispered to his ward again and again. Silence fell around them as the others observed this rare moment between the two. Batman rocked his child, and that child closed his eyes in relief. Nothing else mattered anymore.

* * *

The next week was one that no one could quite summarize. For some it was long and tiresome, for others it went by in a blur. But one thing that can be said is that the world certainly had a 180. Probably the most exciting thing about it was the fact that it wasn't a dream. Over the course of that week (The start of "The Extermination" as Wally affectionately named it) the world was returned to normal. Sure, there were a few straggling zeds out there that had yet to show their faces and be cured, but in time they would all be gone. The world knew there had been a cure. Where it came from, they didn't. And the League decided to keep it that way. "We were meant to be a covert team," Aqualad had said. "That doesn't need to change. Enough has changed already." And so minds would wonder and tongues would wag, but it didn't matter. "This whole thing will probably blow over in a year anyway," Barry joked cheerfully. He received several annoyed looks from his more serious colleagues at the fact that his old humor had returned completely. No, everyone involved knew that what had happened was monumental. They had done something extraordinary that had never before been necessary and hopefully never would be again. Everything had changed.

What to do about Dr. Crane was in the air for the better part of a month. The League deliberated and deliberated, and finally one night Robin said to Batman, "Let him go. He's not bound to try something like this ever again, and he did what he could to end it. The debt has more or less been cancelled. If you want to take out your anger on him, let him go back to his old ways like they always do. Then at least you'll have a reason to beat him up." The boy received a dirty look at this final comment, but Scarecrow's fate was decided by the mercy of an innocent boy. Either way, Batman surmised that it was Lex Luthor who deserved the brunt of the punishment on this one.

Atlantis welcomed its heroes and soldiers home with a joyous celebration. The relationship between the kingdoms on the surface and their own had been permanently changed for the better. Aquaman recognized this, and the fact that many were to be praised for their bravery and selflessness. It was certainly an excellent way to return home. The various weapons that had turned the tide against the virus were returned as well, with one or two tanks left on land for emergency purposes and museums. Both Happy Harbor and Central City, being important fronts in the battle against the zeds proved to be much better off with the experience and recognition. It was safe to say supervillians would keep their heads low for awhile with those cities maintaining their power.

The Team members, aside from Aqualad, had expected that it would be a drawback to not be recognized for all they had done, but they found the little ways in which they were recognized by those who knew what they had done to be quite sufficient. Clark Kent taking Conner Kent out to lunch one day. J'onn buying M'gann all the seasons of Hello, Megan so she could stop watching them online. Paula Crock hosting a party on the Watchtower for the League and the Team without Artemis even asking. Aunt Iris bringing Wally to the Central City Newsroom and introducing him to several of her colleagues at Barry's request. But not all the post-victory moments were gleeful and satisfying. There was still pain, and there were still unanswered questions.

* * *

Dick spent most of that first week in bed. Bruce and especially Alfred wouldn't have allowed him to do otherwise, but every chance he got, he asked how things were going with The Extermination. Whenever he was awake, he was watching the news until his headache came back, or eating the foods Alfred was stuffing him with. It was a boring week for him, and it was difficult to keep his mind off of the things that had happened during the outbreak. With nothing else to talk about, he knew he was probably being a pest asking what was happening out there every moment he could spare his voice.

By the end of the week he couldn't keep it in any longer. "Have you seen my parents? Are they in their graves? Has anyone found them, or are they still out there?" Bruce and Alfred looked at him. Alfred glanced toward Bruce but the Batman continued to gaze at his ward. "I'm doing everything I can to find them, Dick. The last time I checked their graves was yesterday, but I promise I'll go again tonight." "Not necessary, Master Bruce," Alfred spoke up. Bruce and Dick stared at him quizzically. "What do you mean?" Bruce prodded him. "I checked it myself this afternoon," the butler continued uncomfortably. "They were entering their graves as I watched." Robin's mouth fell open, and he couldn't think of a response.

Luckily, Alfred knew just what to say. "You can visit them tomorrow." "I-I can? I'm not on bed rest?" The corners of Alfred's mouth lifted slightly. "You _are _on bed rest. But tomorrow is an exception. Master Bruce will go with you, and I can pack something for a picnic lunch. Be careful, and I won't regret allowing it." Dick nodded solemnly. "On another note," Alfred continued more happily. "Commissioner Gordon called. He reports that Barbara returned home yesterday alive and well and wanted to make sure you were alright, Master Richard. Perhaps you can drop by the Gordon place on your way tomorrow?"

_Lily of the Valley. Symbolizing a return to happiness. This will be perfect, _Dick thought. He bought two bouquets of the flowers and wheeled his way out of the florist's shop before he could be recognized. Bruce waited impatiently outside on the sidewalk. While Dick Grayson could most likely get away with buying a couple of bouquets of flowers from a little local store, Bruce Wayne certainly could not, and so Dick had flat out refused that he come in with him. He didn't like being in a wheelchair, but he could manage and maintain a low profile.

"Lily of the Valley, huh?" Bruce said. "I'm sure she'll be pleased." "Let's just get in the car." Dick suggested before there could be any more teasing. Bruce laughed and shook his head, helping his ward out of his wheelchair and into the passenger seat of the low-profile care Alfred had suggested. After folding up the wheelchair and placing it in the back, Bruce began driving for the Gordon place.

There was a knock at the door. The Commissioner was sleeping, per Barbara's request due to how he tired himself out over the whole zombie crisis, so she answered the door herself. No one was there, but on the doorstep lay a quaint little bouquet of Lily of the Vally flowers, tied with a silky white bow. She gazed at it a few moments, situated where it was on the dark and grimy stair and providing quite a contrast to behold. Quickly she picked it up, not wanting it to get dirty, and noticed a small note attached.

_Barbara, I thought I should let you know that, yes, I'm alive, but a little worse for wear. I'm very relieved to know you're okay. I hope you recover well. Consider the bouquet an encouragement :) -Dick_

Two graves, side by side. There was a bouquet of Lily of the Valley flowers in between, and a boy sitting on the dirt in front, with his guardian behind, the steadying hand on his shoulder. There were so many things he wanted to say. Bruce didn't push him to say anything, but gave him an encouraging squeeze. "I forgive you," he finally whispered, and gave in to the tears.

* * *

When everything had been said and done, the Team found themselves seated silently around the television one night. They all had some time off to recuperate, because physical, emotional, or otherwise, everyone had been dealt a blow that they needed to recover from. No one had suggested what to watch, and no one was sure if anyone would. Either way, they were all happy to just be sitting near each other comfortably in silence. Nothing needed to be said. But of course when nothing needed to be said, Kid Mouth would be the one to say it.

"Who's up for a Walking Dead marathon?"

* * *

**Hey guys! I want to thank you so much for reading this story and putting up with cliffhangers and possibly bad grammar in some places... it was a lot of fun and a lot of work to write and I hope you enjoyed it. Even if it wasn't "a perfect picture of patient perseverance"... (And yes, FrankandJoe3, I added the Barbara part just for you, due to your concern for her in your last review)**

**IMPORTANT: This story may be over but I'd still love to see comments! For instance, tell me what you expected or would have wanted to happen differently, what your favorite moment or quote was, and especially whether or not I ought to start writing a sequel or follow-up one-shot of some kind. Let me know!**

**Thanks so much for all the support thus far! Stay tuned for new stories. Also, I have now changed my name so don't be confused if you read anything else of mine and discover that it's not BW10. Thank you again!**

**-TFF**


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